How much did things cost in 1968?
These are prices of some sample items in 1968.
How much were these prices for someone on an average income in 1968? To get a feel for this, I have adjusted them for the increase in incomes from 1968 to today. You can see these adjusted prices in the column 'Income adjusted'.
| 1968 price | Income adjusted | |
|---|---|---|
| Gallon of petrol | 6s 2d | £12 |
| Pint of beer | 2s 6d | £4.90 |
| 20 cigarettes | 4s 10d | £9.40 |
| Pint of milk | 10½d | £1.70 |
| Large loaf of bread | 1s 4d | £2.60 |
| 25" Baird 701 colour TV | £279 6d | £11,000 |
| 25" Baird colour TV rental per week | 26s 6d to 40s | £52 to £78 |
| 19" Pye black & white TV (Currys) | 66 guineas | £2,700 |
| The Daily Mirror newspaper | 4d to 5d | 65p to 81p |
| Average house price | £3,996 | £160,000 |
| 1lb of Anchor butter (Tesco) | 2s 10d | £5.50 |
| Pepsi Cola (Tesco) | 9½d | £1.60 |
| Ford Cortina car | £809 | £32,000 |
| Hotpoint Iced Diamond 50 refrigerator | £58 14s 7d | £2,300 |
| Servis Supertwin 3 - washing machine (Currys) | 69½ guineas | £2,900 |
| Hoover Keymatic de luxe 3203 - automatic washing machine | £125 4s 11d | £4,900 |
| Coston Classic dishwasher | £130 9s 11d | £5,100 |
| Hoover constellation 867A - vacuum cleaner | £23 11s 2d | £920 |
| Kenwood Chefette mixer | £12 12s | £490 |
| Kodak Instamatic 304 automatic camera | £21 18s 6d | £860 |
| Olympia Splendid 66 portable typewriter | £28 | £1,100 |
| Family pack of Golden Wonder crisps (Tesco) | 1s 8d | £3.30 |
| 1lb Stork margarine (Tesco) | 1s 6d | £2.90 |
| Ray Ban GF sunglasses with glass lenses and metal frames | £4 10s 6d | £180 |
| Raleigh RSW 14 children's bicycle | £19 19s 6d | £780 |
Prices are in pounds, shillings and pence.
Some shops priced more expensive items in guineas. A guinea is one pound and one shilling or £1.05.
The income adjusted prices are based on the Bank of England's Three Centuries Macroeconomic Dataset Version 2.3 - 30 June 2016. I have updated the income figures based on the ONS: Series code KAB9, adjusted to bring the figures inline with the Bank of England's.
For a comparison of prices in 1968 adjusted for inflation see Infation adjusted prices for 1968
By Steven Braggs, November 2021, updated May 2022
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