What was my money worth?
Prices rise over time, so a pound buys less than it used to. Pick an amount and a year to see what it would take today to buy the same.
Has typical pay kept up with prices?
The first chart is pay as it was at the time. The second takes prices into account, so every year is shown in 2025 money. Compare how they differ.
What’s this?
The middle weekly pay, before tax, of people working full time: half earn more, half earn less. Cash terms, not adjusted for prices.
What it cannot tell you: It is the middle of people working full time, so it leaves out part-time workers and people without a job. It is before tax and not adjusted for prices.
What’s this?
The same pay series, with earlier years scaled up by price rises so that every year is shown in 2025 money. It shows whether pay has risen faster than prices.
What it cannot tell you: It uses one price index for everyone, but people's own cost of living differs. It is still before tax.
What’s this?
How much prices rose over the previous twelve months, measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). A rate above zero means prices are rising.
What it cannot tell you: It is an average. Your own prices may have risen faster or slower, for example if you rent or drive a lot.
Uses the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), annual averages. One index cannot match every household’s spending: rent, energy and food have risen at different rates. Source: ONS. Latest month used: August 2026.