How much did things cost in 1987?
These are prices of some sample items in 1987.
How much were these prices for someone on an average income in 1987? To get a feel for this, I have adjusted them for the increase in incomes from 1987 to today. You can see these adjusted prices in the column 'Income adjusted'.
| 1987 price | Income adjusted | |
|---|---|---|
| Gallon of petrol | £1.70 | £6.60 |
| Bottle of whisky (Grant's) (Tesco) | £7.29 | £28 |
| Liebfraumilch (Tesco) | £1.29 | £5 |
| Martini Extra Dry Vermouth (Tesco) | £2.29 | £8.80 |
| John Smith's Bitter 4 cans (Tesco) | £2.19 | £8.40 |
| Pint of beer (bitter) | 86p | £3.30 |
| Pint of lager | 92p | £3.50 |
| 20 cigarettes | £1.43 | £5.50 |
| 22" Logik colour TV (Dixons) | £229.99 | £890 |
| Sanyo VHS recorder (Comet) | £319.95 | £1,200 |
| Sinclair Specturm 3 128K (Comet) | £169.95 | £660 |
| Lec fridge-freezer (Comet) | £169.95 | £660 |
| Morphy Richards microwave oven (Asda) | £99.99 | £390 |
| Hotpoint automatic washing machine (Rumbelows) | £259.99 | £1,000 |
| Hotpoint dishwasher (Rumbelows) | £299.99 | £1,200 |
| Mobile phone - Nokia Cityman 1320 | £1950 | £7,500 |
| Daily Mirror newspaper | 18-20p | 69-77p |
| Average house price | £54,000 | £210,000 |
| Ford Sierra Sapphire 2.0i GLS | £9,679 | £37,000 |
| 250g Dairy butter (spar) | 49p | £1.90 |
| 100g Nescafé coffee (Asda) | £1.45 | £5.60 |
| Coca-Cola 1.5 litres (Spar) | 59p | £2.30 |
| Golden Wonder crisps and snacks 10 pack (Tesco) | 99p | £3.80 |
| Pack of 18 size 3 eggs (Tesco) | £1.19 | £4.60 |
| Mild Cheddar cheese (1lb) (Tesco) | 89p | £3.40 |
| Flora margarine 250g (Safeway) | 28p | £1.10 |
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 1987 adjusted for inflation see Infation adjusted prices for 1987
By Steven Braggs, February 2021, updated May 2022
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