Notice
From March 2025 onwards, the process for aggregating our prices has changed, a necessary step towards incorporating larger and more granular data into the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). Goods and services are allocated into "consumption segments" for different categories of expenditure. More detailed methods information is available in our Consumer Prices Indices Technical Manual, 2019.
The newly introduced consumption segments for food, drinks and tobacco will not have data before 2025 in the tool, however, the historical average prices for food, drinks and tobacco items, that were on the tool before the update in 2025, can be found on our Shopping prices comparison tool data download before the 2025 update page
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What is inflation?
Inflation is a measure of how prices of goods and services are changing in the UK, and it can have a big impact on people's household finances.
Each month, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes the latest annual inflation rate, which measures the change in the price of regularly purchased items (known as the basket of goods and services) compared with the same time the previous year.
The overall inflation rate depends on how the prices of different goods and services are moving, and also on what items we tend to spend our money on. Some goods and services contribute more to the overall inflation rate than others: if some items see a large increase in prices, while others stay more stable, then inflation would be driven by the changing prices in that spending category.
This tool shows how the price of different items has changed since 2020.
How to use the shopping prices comparison tool
The shopping prices comparison tool has been built to help people understand why their household might have experienced inflation. This interactive shows how the average price of different items has changed in the last year by using the published consumption segment indices and price information we collect monthly.
You have the option to select from more than 650 items in the interactive, which are currently in the consumer prices basket used to produce inflation figures. These include items in a range of categories, including:
- groceries
- clothing and footwear
- health
- recreation and culture
- services
- transport
- household items
- eating and drinking out
The interactive will also show the current average price of the items compared with the same month the previous year. The tool does not contain average prices for all items, instead for these items it only shows the growth rates. Details of how we have estimated average prices for these select items are included in the further information section.
All the data used in the tool, from January 2020 to now, will be available through the "download all data" button.
The average prices included in this interactive are calculated using the price quotes collected as part of the consumer prices monthly price collection. The number of price quotes collected per item will differ and does not reflect the average of all prices possible for each item in the basket. The average price estimates presented are official statistics in development. More information is available in our Guide to official statistics in development.
Please note the percentage changes in price are based on unrounded item price data so may differ from estimates based on the rounded item prices.
If you have any questions about this interactive, please email cpi@ons.gov.uk.
Further information
About the shopping prices comparison tool
Our measures of inflation are designed to reflect the change in prices of goods and services bought by all households.
The shopping prices comparison tool uses the latest available inflation indices, but it cannot predict how prices might change in the future.
The shopping prices comparison tool uses our most comprehensive measure of consumer prices inflation, which is the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH). The CPIH is very similar to the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), but includes the costs associated with owning, maintaining and living in one's own home. It does not measure the change in the value of a house. Please note that the shopping prices comparison tool does not include any items reflecting costs associated with owning a home.
The CPIH covers household spending on goods and services but not spending by businesses.
The interactive shows price movements only of individual items in the consumer price basket. The movements of individual items might differ from the indices they feed into as weights and methods are used for the CPIH in line with international guidance.
From March 2025 onwards, the process for aggregating our prices has changed, a necessary step towards incorporating larger and more granular data into the CPI.
Goods and services are allocated into "consumption segments" for different categories of expenditure. In some cases, these consumption segments are based on one item for which the ONS tracks prices over time. But in cases where more comprehensive source data are available, or expected to be available in the future, a consumption segment will typically include much more than just one item. For example, basmati rice (500 grammes to 1 kilogramme), microwave rice and rice cakes will feed into the "Rice, in all forms (excl. rice flour)" consumption segment. However, for simplicity we continue to refer to "items" in this tool. More detailed methods information is available in our Consumer Prices Indices Technical Manual, 2019.
The newly introduced consumption segments for food, drinks and tobacco will not have data before 2025 in the tool, however, the historical average prices for food, drinks and tobacco items, that were on the tool prior to the update in 2025, can be found on our Shopping prices comparison tool data download before the 2025 update.
Average prices
Average prices will be published for most items that appear in both the published consumption segment indices and price quotes. The average prices for some items have been removed because of volatile month-on-month changes, or because the price collection methods or coverage of the item make it too difficult to define a meaningful average price.
With the introduction of consumption segments in 2025 for food and drink items, consumption segments that have multiple items will not have an average price shown in the tool. For example, averaging basmati rice (500 grammes to 1 kilogramme), microwave rice and rice cakes to get an average price for "rice" would not be meaningful. This is to ensure the average prices for items are clear and easy to understand.
Average prices are calculated by first determining an average price for the latest January. This is done by taking a weighted arithmetic mean of the price quotes collected for each item in the latest January, with a weighted mean used to reflect the relative popularity of each individual priced item. The remaining months' average prices are calculated by multiplying the current month's CPIH item index growth rate since January by the calculated January average price.
This method is used to avoid misleading changes in the published average price because of changes in the sample of items. However, it is important to note that the sample of prices that is collected as part of the consumer prices monthly price collection is designed to best capture price change, not price levels, which are presented in this interactive. Secondly, sample changes and quality changes over link periods might mean that average prices may not look as expected over the longer term.
Whilst the interactive will update each month with the latest inflation data, the items in the shopping prices comparison tool will be updated in March of each year to coincide with the revision of items in the inflation basket. This will cause all average prices in the interactive to be updated and revised to reflect the most recent data. The difference in average prices in the annual update will vary across items. While these estimates will be revised, the revision policy for CPIH and CPI is that they are rarely revised, and the Retail Prices Index (RPI) is never revised.
The average prices in this tool will also differ from those presented in our tracking the lowest priced grocery items article, which focuses on the average price of the lowest-cost grocery items for 30 everyday items. In contrast, the average prices in this interactive are calculated using a wider distribution of prices quotes collected as part of the monthly consumer price collection.