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UK inflation calculator
What money from any year since 1988 is worth in another, using the official ONS CPI index: equivalent buying power, cumulative inflation and the average annual rate.
Uses the official CPI all-items index (ONS series D7BT), annual averages from 1988 to 2025, the latest complete year. Set the from-year later than the to-year to deflate instead: what today’s money was worth back then.
Buying power
£100.00 in 2000 has the buying power of
£190.37
in 2025
- Cumulative inflation, 2000 to 202590.4%
- Average annual rate2.61%
£100 from years past, in 2025 money
- £100 in 2015 (10 years ago)£138.40
- £100 in 2005 (20 years ago)£177.21
- £100 in 1995 (30 years ago)£205.95
Cash that just sits still loses buying power at this rate. The compound interest calculator shows what it earns when it doesn’t.
Common questions
- Does this calculator use CPI, RPI or CPIH?
- CPI, the Consumer Prices Index (ONS series D7BT, annual averages). It is the measure used for the Bank of England's 2% target and most benefit uprating. RPI usually runs higher but is no longer a national statistic, and CPIH adds owner-occupiers' housing costs. Pick a different measure and you will get different numbers; CPI is the most widely used.
- Why does my personal inflation feel higher than the official rate?
- CPI tracks a fixed basket weighted by average household spending. If your money goes disproportionately on things that rose fastest, like rent, energy or childcare, your personal rate is higher than the headline. Households that spend more on the categories that fell or stayed flat experience less. The official number is an average, not your number.
- What does inflation mean for my savings?
- If your savings rate is below inflation, your balance grows but its buying power shrinks. £1,000 left in an account paying 1% during a year of 3% inflation effectively loses about 2% of what it can buy. The comparison to make is your interest rate against CPI, not against zero, which is why tax-free interest in an ISA and long compounding both matter.
- Why does the calculator only go back to 1988?
- The ONS publishes the consistent CPI all-items index from 1988 onwards. Earlier decades exist only as modelled estimates or on different measures like RPI, which are not directly comparable, so years outside 1988 to 2025 are clamped to the nearest available year.
- Why does it stop at 2025 when it is 2026?
- The calculator uses annual averages, and an annual average only exists once the calendar year is complete. 2025 is the latest full year in the ONS series. Monthly CPI for 2026 exists, but mixing a part-year figure into annual comparisons would overstate or understate the change depending on the month.
- Can I work out what today's money was worth in the past?
- Yes. Set the from-year later than the to-year and the calculator deflates instead: £100 of 2025 money had the buying power of roughly £72 in 2015. The maths is the same index ratio run in the other direction.
Inflation is the rate your cash has to beat. The compound interest calculator shows what regular saving at a real return builds, and the ISA savings calculator shows how keeping the interest tax-free helps it keep up.