How much did things cost in 1972?

These are prices of some sample items in 1972.

How much were these prices for someone on an average income in 1972? To get a feel for this, I have adjusted them for the increase in incomes from 1972 to today. You can see these adjusted prices in the column 'Income adjusted'.

1972 priceIncome adjusted
Sinclair Executive calculator£79£2,000
22" Pye colour TV (Currys)£239.00£6,100
24" Ferguson black & white TV (Currys)£67.00£1,700
Eurostyle 7/0334 traditional alarm clock (Yugoslavia)£2.42£62
Gallon of petrol35p£8.90
Ford Cortina car£1,022.00£26,000
Mini 850£695£18,000
Fiat 500£650£17,000
Bottle of whisky (Haig)£2.52£64
Bottle of sherry (Harvey's Bristol Cream)£1.25£32
Pint of beer (Courage Tavern)14-18p£3.60-£4.60
20 cigarettes26½p£6.80
Zoppas refrigerator (made by Zanussi) (Currys)£32.95£840
Servis Supertwin washing machine (Currys)£86.95£2,200
Hoover Automatic Deluxe washing machine (Currys)£105.00£2,700
Russell Hobbs K2 (Timothy Whites) kettle£7.95£200
Kenwood Chef mixer (Timothy Whites) kettle£31.25£800
Pint of milk5p£1.30
White, 1¾lb wrapped and sliced loaf10p£2.50
½lb St Ivel Golden Meadow butter (Tesco)11½p£2.90
Maxwell House 4oz coffee (Tesco)25p£6.40
Can of Coke (Co-op)6½p £1.70
Golden Wonder crisps 3p77p
One dozen large white eggs22p£5.60
1lb Stork margarine 11½p£2.90
Average house price£7,000.00£180,000
The Daily Mirror newspaper3p77p
The Daily Express newspaper3p77p
Tracy's Tea Party (Timothy White)£6.28£160
Monopoly game (Tesco)£1.35£34
Tights (Woolworth's)15-29p£3.80-£7.40
Men's socks (Woolworth's)25p£6.40
Children's socks (Woolworth's)15-25p£3.80-£6.40
Drip-dry nylon shirts (Woolworth's)£1.25£32
Men's suit made to measure from Burton£19.50£500
Men's showerproof topcoat (Burton)£17.50£450
Men's paisley patterned polyester/cotton shirt (C&A)£1.65£42
Women's trouser suit with spotted cravat (C&A)£8.95£230
Dresses (Richard Shops)£5.45£140
Raleigh Chopper£35.60£910

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 1972 adjusted for inflation see Infation adjusted prices for 1972

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How much did things cost in:

By Steven Braggs, updated May 2022

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