This site provides three historical series pertaining to the average worker in the United Kingdom. The series are:

• The retail price index
• The average nominal earnings
• The average real earnings

All three series are expressed as an index number relative to the base year, 1987, which has a value of 100. The series are annual and run continuously for the time period 1264 to the present.

The Retail Price Index (RPI) for a given year compares the cost of purchases of the typical household in that year with the cost in the year 1987. This series is sometimes referred to as the "Cost-of-Living Index" and officially as the Retail Price Index. For more discussion, read the guide cited below.

Average Earnings has a broader meaning than just wages. In principle, earnings consist not only of wages but also other forms of compensation. Though the earnings series are annual average, the figures are not total earnings per worker over the year but rather the rate of earnings for a worker per short time period.

Average Real Earnings are "average nominal earnings" divided by the "retail price index", then multiplied by 100 so that the value for 1987 is 100 rather than one.

For additional information about the earnings rate and Consumer Price Index, please read "What Were the U.K. Earnings Rate and Consumer Price Index Then? A Question-and-Answer Guide". For more in-depth information on the development of the series, please read "What Were the U.K. Earnings Rate and Consumer Price Index Then? A Data Study" (233K PDF).

Please read our Note on Data Revisions.

Lawrence H. Officer, "What Were the UK Earnings and Prices Then?" MeasuringWorth, 2026.
URL: http://www.measuringworth.com/ukearncpi/

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