January 12, 2011 
Times are hard in Europe, despite the stock markets having returned to pre-crash levels and reasonably optimistic sentiment around about the future, the average working person in the UK is still not feeling too cheerful. A quick glance at the table below explains why. With few exceptions, price inflation has exploded while average salaries haven’t come close to the same level of increases. It can’t be that hard to create a more accurate measure of inflations, but then I imagine there is little political will to do so.
| Item | Price in 1999 | Price in 2009 | % change | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milk (pint) | 34p | 45p | 32.30% | ONS |
| Loaf of white sliced bread (800g) | 51p | £1.26 | 147% | ONS |
| Sugar (kg) | 61p | 88p | 44.20% | ONS |
| Draught lager (pint) | £1.93 | £2.79 | 44.50% | ONS |
| Cigarettes (20 king sized) | £3.37 | £5.39 | 60% | ONS |
| Unleaded petrol per litre | 63.6p | 90.4p | 42% | Petrol Prices |
| House prices | £73,302 | £163,969 | 123% | Halifax House Price Index & Historical House Price Data |
| Average salary | £18,396 | £20,900 | 13.60% | ONS |
| Average mortgage size (new loans) | £54,100 | £112,000 | 107% | Council of Mortgage Lenders |
| Weekly state pension | £66.75 | £95.25 | 42.70% | The Pensions Advisory Service |
| Level of UK consumer debt | £565.4 billion | £1457.4 billion | 158% | Bank of England Statistics |
| Price of oil (per barrel) | £8.80 | £28.70 | 226% | Price of Oil & WTRG |
| Price of gold (per ounce) | $280 (£191) | $900 (£615) | 222% | Digital Look |
| Bottle of wine | £3.55 | £4.18 | 18% | Wine and Spirit Trade Association |
| Ford Focus (latest model) | £15,500 | £16,095 | 4% | Ford |
| McDonald’s Big Mac | £1.90 | £1.99 | 4.70% | McDonald’s |
Alistair Milne 
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