UK Inflation Rate History
See how UK CPI inflation has moved year by year since 1990, understand what drove each spike, and calculate how it has changed the value of your money.
Calculate the Effect of Inflation on Your Money
Enter an amount and a start and end year to estimate how UK inflation has changed its purchasing power, based on annual CPI figures.
Inflation Value Estimator
See what your money was really worth, then and now.
How it Works
Understanding UK inflation history
Enter an Amount
Input any amount of money you want to trace the value of over time.
Pick Two Years
Choose a start year and an end year between 1990 and the present.
See the Estimate
The tool compounds each year’s CPI rate to estimate the equivalent value.
Compare to Wages
Use the result to judge whether your income or savings have kept pace with prices.
UK CPI Inflation Rate by Year
Average annual UK CPI inflation for each year from 1990 to 2025, based on Office for National Statistics data. Figures for years before 1997 are ONS back-calculated estimates, since CPI was formally adopted as the UK’s main measure in 2003.
| Year | CPI Annual Rate | Backdrop |
|---|
Key Moments in UK Inflation History
A brief look at the events that shaped the biggest swings in UK inflation over the past three decades.
The Lawson Boom Unwinds
Loose monetary policy and a housing boom in the late 1980s pushed CPI to around 9.5% in 1990. The recession that followed, along with Black Wednesday in September 1992 when the pound was forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, marked a painful reset for the UK economy and its approach to controlling prices.
The Bank of England Gains Independence
Interest rate decisions were handed to an independent Monetary Policy Committee with a formal 2% inflation target. This change is widely credited with ushering in almost two decades of unusually low and stable inflation, sometimes called the “Great Moderation”.
The Global Financial Crisis
Oil prices spiked before the 2008 crash, briefly pushing CPI above 3.5%, before the ensuing recession and collapse in demand pulled inflation back down. The Bank of England cut interest rates sharply and launched quantitative easing to support the economy.
Near-Zero Inflation, Then the Brexit Vote
A collapse in global oil prices pushed CPI to roughly 0% in 2015, the lowest on record at the time. The 2016 Brexit referendum then triggered a sharp fall in the pound, making imports more expensive and pushing inflation back up over the following two years.
The Post-Pandemic Inflation Surge
A combination of rebounding demand, global supply chain disruption, and a dramatic rise in energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushed UK CPI to a peak of 11.1% in October 2022, the highest reading in over 40 years. The Bank of England responded with its fastest run of interest rate rises in decades.
Inflation Falls, Then Re-Accelerates
CPI fell back sharply through 2024 as energy prices normalised and higher interest rates cooled demand, allowing the Bank of England to begin cutting rates. Inflation then picked up again through 2025 as employer costs and living-wage increases fed into prices, keeping CPI above the 2% target.
UK Inflation FAQ
Answers to the most frequently asked questions about UK inflation history, how it’s measured, and what it means for your money.
In the modern CPI era, UK inflation peaked at 11.1% in October 2022, driven by soaring energy prices, post-pandemic demand, global supply chain problems, and the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on gas prices. Using the older RPI measure, inflation was even higher during the mid-1970s.
The Bank of England aims to keep CPI inflation at 2% per year. If inflation moves more than one percentage point away from this target in either direction, the Governor is required to write an open letter to the Chancellor explaining why, and what the Bank plans to do about it.
CPI (Consumer Prices Index) is the UK’s main official inflation measure and excludes mortgage interest and council tax. RPI (Retail Prices Index) includes housing costs and tends to read higher as a result. CPI is used for the Bank of England’s target and state pension uprating, while RPI is still used for some index-linked gilts and rail fares.
The Office for National Statistics tracks the prices of a large representative basket of goods and services bought by UK households each month. Comparing the cost of that basket with its cost twelve months earlier produces the annual CPI inflation rate reported in the news.