U.K. inflation rate in 1972: 7.13%

£

Inflation in 1972 and its effect on pound value

£1 in 1971 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £1.07 in 1972. The pound had an average inflation rate of 7.13% per year between 1971 and 1972, producing a cumulative price increase of 7.13%. Purchasing power decreased by 7.13% in 1972 compared to 1971. On average, you would have to spend 7.13% more money in 1972 than in 1971 for the same item.

This means that prices in 1972 are 1.07 times as high as average prices since 1971, according to the Office for National Statistics composite price index.

The inflation rate in 1971 was 9.44%. The inflation rate in 1972 was 7.13%. The 1972 inflation rate is higher compared to the average inflation rate of 5.54% per year between 1972 and 2024.

Inflation rate is calculated by change in the composite price index (CPI). The CPI in 1972 was 85.70. It was 80.00 in the previous year, 1971. The difference in CPI between the years is used by the Office for National Statistics to officially determine inflation.

⌃
Inflation from 1971 to 1972
Average inflation rate7.13%
Converted amount
£1 base		£1.07
Price difference
£1 base		£0.07
CPI in 197180.000
CPI in 197285.700
Inflation in 19719.44%
Inflation in 19727.13%
£1 in 1971£1.07 in 1972
Recent GBP inflation
Annual Rate, the Office for National Statistics CPI
Download

How to calculate inflation rate for £1, 1971 to 1972

Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1971 and 1972:

CPI in 1972 CPI in 1971
×
1971 GBP value
=
1972 GBP value

Then plug in historical CPI values. The U.K. CPI was 80 in the year 1971 and 85.7 in 1972:

85.780
×
£1
=
£1.07

£1 in 1971 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as £1.07 in 1972.

To get the total inflation rate for the 1 years between 1971 and 1972, we use the following formula:

CPI in 1972 - CPI in 1971CPI in 1971
×
100
=
Cumulative inflation rate (1 years)

Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:

85.7 - 8080
×
100
=
7%

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 1972 | UK Inflation Calculator.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 11 Dec. 2024, https://www.officialdata.org/UK-inflation-rate-in-1972.

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 1971 to 1972
Average inflation rate7.13%
Converted amount
£1 base		£1.07
Price difference
£1 base		£0.07
CPI in 197180.000
CPI in 197285.700
Inflation in 19719.44%
Inflation in 19727.13%
£1 in 1971£1.07 in 1972