U.K. inflation rate in 1970: 6.40%

£

Inflation in 1970 and its effect on pound value

£1 in 1969 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £1.06 in 1970. The pound had an average inflation rate of 6.40% per year between 1969 and 1970, producing a cumulative price increase of 6.40%. Purchasing power decreased by 6.40% in 1970 compared to 1969. On average, you would have to spend 6.40% more money in 1970 than in 1969 for the same item.

This means that prices in 1970 are 1.06 times as high as average prices since 1969, according to the Office for National Statistics composite price index.

The inflation rate in 1969 was 5.37%. The inflation rate in 1970 was 6.40%. The 1970 inflation rate is higher compared to the average inflation rate of 5.64% per year between 1970 and 2024.

Inflation rate is calculated by change in the composite price index (CPI). The CPI in 1970 was 73.10. It was 68.70 in the previous year, 1969. The difference in CPI between the years is used by the Office for National Statistics to officially determine inflation.

⌃
Inflation from 1969 to 1970
Average inflation rate6.40%
Converted amount
£1 base		£1.06
Price difference
£1 base		£0.06
CPI in 196968.700
CPI in 197073.100
Inflation in 19695.37%
Inflation in 19706.40%
£1 in 1969£1.06 in 1970
Recent GBP inflation
Annual Rate, the Office for National Statistics CPI
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How to calculate inflation rate for £1, 1969 to 1970

Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1969 and 1970:

CPI in 1970 CPI in 1969
×
1969 GBP value
=
1970 GBP value

Then plug in historical CPI values. The U.K. CPI was 68.7 in the year 1969 and 73.1 in 1970:

73.168.7
×
£1
=
£1.06

£1 in 1969 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as £1.06 in 1970.

To get the total inflation rate for the 1 years between 1969 and 1970, we use the following formula:

CPI in 1970 - CPI in 1969CPI in 1969
×
100
=
Cumulative inflation rate (1 years)

Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:

73.1 - 68.768.7
×
100
=
6%

Data source & citation

Raw data for these calculations comes from the composite price index published by the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS). A composite index is created by combining price data from several different published sources, both official and unofficial. The Consumer Price Index, normally used to compute inflation, has only been tracked since 1988. All inflation calculations after 1988 use the Office for National Statistics' Consumer Price Index, except for the current year, which is based on The Bank of England's forecast.

You may use the following MLA citation for this page: “Inflation Rate in 1970 | UK Inflation Calculator.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 15 Dec. 2024, https://www.officialdata.org/UK-inflation-rate-in-1970.

Special thanks to QuickChart for their chart image API, which is used for chart downloads.

in2013dollars.com is a reference website maintained by the Official Data Foundation.

Ian Webster

About the author

Ian Webster is an engineer and data expert based in San Mateo, California. He has worked for Google, NASA, and consulted for governments around the world on data pipelines and data analysis. Disappointed by the lack of clear resources on the impacts of inflation on economic indicators, Ian believes this website serves as a valuable public tool. Ian earned his degree in Computer Science from Dartmouth College.

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Inflation from 1969 to 1970
Average inflation rate6.40%
Converted amount
£1 base		£1.06
Price difference
£1 base		£0.06
CPI in 196968.700
CPI in 197073.100
Inflation in 19695.37%
Inflation in 19706.40%
£1 in 1969£1.06 in 1970