How much did things cost in 1988?

These are prices of some sample items in 1988.

How much were these prices for someone on an average income in 1988? To get a feel for this, I have adjusted them for the increase in incomes from 1988 to today. You can see these adjusted prices in the column 'Income adjusted'.

1988
price
Income
adjusted
Gallon of petrol£1.72£6.10
Bottle of whisky (Bell's) (Co-op)£8.29£29
Bottle of sherry (Harvey's Bristol Cream) (Co-op)£3.89£14
Carlsberg Special Brew - 1 large can (Spar)89p£3.10
Pint of beer (bitter)91p£3.20
Pint of lager98p£3.50
20 cigarettes£1.48£5.20
21" Philips colour TV with Teletext and remote (Dixons)£399.99£1,400
Saisho VHS recorder (Dixons)£229.99£810
Sanyo Camcorder + 14" colour TV with Teletext (Dixons)£1099£3,900
Amstrad computer with disk drive (Dixons)£349.99£1,200
Hotpoint fridge-freezer (Currys)£349.99£1,200
Samsun microwave oven (House of Fraser)£139.99£500
Hotpoint automatic washing machine (Electricity Board Shop)£269.99£960
Daily Mirror newspaper20p71p
Average house price£65,000£230,000
250g Acorn butter (Gateway)46p£1.60
Pepsi cola 2 litres (Tesco)75p £2.70
Ford Sierra RS Cosworth£20,000£71,000
Spar crisps 6 packs59p£2.10
Dozen size 4 eggs (Tesco)69p£2.40
Krona margarine 250g (Safeway)29p£1

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 1988 adjusted for inflation see Infation adjusted prices for 1988

By Steven Braggs, February 2021, updated May 2022

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