Inflation Record
£100 in 1988 → Today (United Kingdom)
Official data verified · CPI (ONS) · Annual average · Not seasonally adjusted · Data through September 2026 (fetched 2026-11-02) · CPI All items (D7BT), MM23 dataset
£286.29
+186.3% cumulative inflation · 1988–2026
Your £100 in 1988 would have the purchasing power of £286.29 in United Kingdom today.
What this means
- Purchasing power: £100 in 1988 had the same average buying power as £286.29 in 2026.
- Price level change: the overall consumer price level rose by 186.3% across this 38-year span; the purchasing power of a pound changed by -65.1%.
- This measures the broad basket of consumer goods and services (CPI (ONS)). Individual expenses moved at different rates.
What this means in other amounts
| In 1988 | Worth in 2026 |
|---|---|
| £1 | £2.86 |
| £5 | £14.31 |
| £10 | £28.63 |
| £20 | £57.26 |
| £50 | £143.14 |
| £100 | £286.29 |
| £500 | £1,431.44 |
| £1,000 | £2,862.87 |
| £10,000 | £28,628.70 |
| £100,000 | £286,287.03 |
Key facts about 1988
- Measured by the older RPI instead of CPI, £100 in 1988 would equal £388.30 in 2026 — the two indexes have drifted apart, which is why this site never blends them.
- In the decade after 1988, prices rose 43.4% in total.
- Since 1988, the overall price level has multiplied about 2.9× — £1.00 in 1988 buys what £2.86 buys in 2026.
£100 in 1988, decade by decade
| Year | Worth | Cumulative price change |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | £143.44 | +43.4% |
| 2008 | £170.79 | +70.8% |
| 2018 | £213.51 | +113.5% |
| 2026 | £286.29 | +186.3% |
Monthly CPI in 1988
| Period | Index | Change vs same period, prior year |
|---|---|---|
| January | 48.4 | — |
| February | 48.6 | — |
| March | 48.7 | — |
| April | 49.3 | — |
| May | 49.5 | — |
| June | 49.7 | — |
| July | 49.7 | — |
| August | 49.9 | — |
| September | 50.1 | — |
| October | 50.3 | — |
| November | 50.5 | — |
| December | 50.6 | — |
Annual average for 1988: 49.608
Verify this calculation
Series: CPI All items (D7BT), MM23 dataset; base 2015=100; not seasonally adjusted.
Index (1988 annual average): 49.608 · Index (2026 annual average): 142.022 · Ratio: 2.8629
Formula: amount × (indexend / indexstart). Formula v1.0 — annual-average CPI, NSA (per-country basis on each methodology page). Source: Office for National Statistics.