How much did things cost in 1971?
Technology
Television
Colour television was new in 1968. In 1971 it was still a rarity in British homes. A colour TV was expensive and you had to find extra money for a colour licence. A black and white TV licence cost £6 up to July 1971 and £7 after July. A colour licence was £11 up to July 1971, then £12. [1]
The purchase of the TV set dwarfed the cost of the licence:
| 1971 price | Inflation adjusted | |
|---|---|---|
| 25" HMV Colourmaster colour TV (Currys) | £289.00 | £3,200 |
| 24" Ferguson black & white TV (Currys) | £69.00 | £750 |
Cassette recorders
Cassette recorders were still cutting edge in 1971. A Phillips EL3302 cost £28.35. In today's money that would be just under £300. Not such a bargain.
Blank cassettes cost from 50p for a C60 (one hour) and up to £1.50 for a C120 (two hours).
Pocket calculators
Pocket calculators first went on sale towards the end of 1971. They were not widely available in the UK until 1972. Desktop electronic calculators cost from £100 to £200.
Motoring
| 1971 price | Inflation adjusted | |
|---|---|---|
| Gallon of petrol | 34p | £3.70 |
| Ford Cortina car | £968 | £11,000 |
| Mini 850 | £641 | £7,000 |
| Mini Clubman Estate | £824 | £9,000 |
Cars were much cheaper in the early 1970s than today. Allowing for inflation you could get a basic Mini 850 for under £7,000.
Petrol was also cheap compared to today. Imagine paying 75p for a litre of petrol today!
Cigarettes and alcohol
| 1971 price | Inflation adjusted | |
|---|---|---|
| Bottle of whisky (Haig) | £2.53 | £28 |
| Pint of beer (Whitbread Tankard) | 16p | £1.80 |
| 20 cigarettes | 27p | £3 |
Whisky was more expensive in the 1970s than today (allowing for inflation). A standard bottle of whisky from a well-known brand, such as Bells or Johnnie Walker, costs around £15 from a supermarket today.
Beer and cigarettes were much cheaper, as you can see from the table above.
In the kitchen
| 1971 price | Inflation adjusted | |
|---|---|---|
| Electrolux Midi Automatic 52 refrigerator (Debenhams) | £59.90 | £650 |
| Servis Supertwin MK70 washing machine (Currys) | £84.95 | £930 |
| Hoover Automatic Deluxe washing machine (Currys) | £105.00 | £1,100 |
| Braun KMM1 coffee grinder | £13.00 | £140 |
| Melitta Automat filter coffee machine | £22.94 | £250 |
| Goblin Teasmade 833 | £22.11 | £240 |
| Russell Hobbs K2S kettle | £9.27 | £100 |
Most people used instant coffee. But for the coffee lover there were some impressive gadgets supplied by German makers. Braun made a range of grinders and the Melitta filter machine was the latest thing.
Food prices
| 1971 price | Inflation adjusted | |
|---|---|---|
| Pint of milk | 5p | 55p |
| Large loaf of bread | 10p | £1.10 |
| ½ lb of Country Life butter (Tesco) | 11½p | £1.30 |
| Nescafé 8oz coffee (Tesco) | 47½p | £5.20 |
| Can of coke (Woolworth) | 5½p | 60p |
| Golden Wonder crisps | 3p | 33p |
| One dozen large white eggs (Tesco) | 25p | £2.70 |
| ½lb Stork margarine (Sainsbury's) | 6½p | 71p |
| Vesta beef curry with rice (for two) | 20p | £2.20 |
Yogurt was the fad food of the early 70s. Ski was the most popular brand. A 6oz pot of Ski fruit-flavoured yogurt cost just 6p.
Posting a letter
Up to decimalisation in February 1971 it cost 5d to post a letter first class and 4d for second class. (See old money for more information about pounds, shillings and pence).
After decimalisation the rates were 3p for first class and 2½p for second class.
Housing
| 1971 price | Inflation adjusted | |
|---|---|---|
| Average house price | £5,000.00 | £55,000 |
| Council rent per week | £5.00 | £55 |
Newspapers
| 1971 price | Inflation adjusted | |
|---|---|---|
| The Daily Mirror newspaper | 2½p - 3p | 27p - 33p |
| The Daily Express newspaper | 2½p - 3p | 27p - 33p |
Toys and games
| 1971 price | Inflation adjusted | |
|---|---|---|
| Tiny Tears (Timothy White) | £2.80 | £31 |
| Monopoly game (Tesco) | £1.15 | £13 |
The craze that swept playgrounds in 1971 was Clackers or Ker-Knockers. A set of Ker-Knockers cost 33p from the Daily Mirror.
Records
Long-playing (LPs) records cost from 77p to £1.25 in 1971. [2]
Clothes
| 1971 price | Inflation adjusted | |
|---|---|---|
| Mens suit made to measure from Burton | £28 | £310 |
| Mens paisley patterned polyester/cotton shirt (C&A) | £1.65 | £18 |
| Mens raincoat (C&A) | £9.95 | £110 |
| Woman's suit with hot pants and long trousers (Richard Shops) | £13.95 | £150 |
| Dresses (Richard Shops) | £7.25 | £79 |
| Jersey dress (C&A) | £3.50 | £38 |
| Satin hot pants (C&A) | £2 | £22 |
Read more: 70s fashion
Garden plants
These are some popular garden shrubs from the early 1970s:
| 1971 price | Inflation adjusted | |
|---|---|---|
| Rhododendron Pink Pearl | £1.62 to £2.35 | £18 to £26 |
| Magnolia Stellata | £1.75 to £2.90 | £19 to £32 |
| Forsythia intermedia 'Spectabilis' | 40p to 65p | £4.40 to £7.10 |
| Clematis Nelly Moser | 65p to 80p | £7.10 to £8.70 |
| Berberis thunbergii 'Atropurpurea' | 42p to 75p | £4.60 to £8.20 |
| Erica darleyensis | 20p to 30p | £2.20 to £3.30 |
Source: 'Shrubs' in Which? magazine September 1971, published by the Consumers' Association
How far did money go in 1971?
1971 was the first year of decimal currency in the UK. Newspapers complained that shops used the changeover to put prices up.
So how far did you money go? This table will give you an idea of the spending power of the new decimal coins against 2021 money.
Under the decimal system there were coins for ½p, 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 50p and notes for £1, £5, £10, £20.
| Amount | Value 2021 |
|---|---|
| ½p | 5p |
| 1p | 10p |
| 2p | 20p |
| 5p | 50p |
| 10p | £1 |
| 50p | £5 |
| £1 | £10 |
| £5 | £50 |
| £10 | £100 |
| £20 | £200 |
Figures derived from The Bank of England's Three Centuries Macroeconomic Dataset Version 2.3 - 30 June 2016 adjusted for current inflation and rounded.
You can think of £1 in 1971 as about £10 in today's money and today's pound as 10p in 1971. It gives you an idea why the coins were bigger back then.
The inflation adjusted prices are based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
For a comparison of prices in 1971 adjusted for incomes see Income adjusted prices for 1971
How much did people earn?
The average weekly wage for full-time male manual workers over twenty-one was £30.98 in 1971.
Read more:
How much did things cost in:
References
[1] Hansard - HC Deb 29 January 1975 vol 885 cc396-406
[2] 'Records for Christmas', in Which? December 1971, published by the Consumers' Association, page 364
By Steven Braggs, updated May 2022
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