U.K. inflation rate in 1978: 8.30%

£

Inflation in 1978 and its effect on pound value

£1 in 1977 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £1.08 in 1978. The pound had an average inflation rate of 8.30% per year between 1977 and 1978, producing a cumulative price increase of 8.30%. Purchasing power decreased by 8.30% in 1978 compared to 1977. On average, you would have to spend 8.30% more money in 1978 than in 1977 for the same item.

This means that prices in 1978 are 1.08 times as high as average prices since 1977, according to the Office for National Statistics composite price index.

The inflation rate in 1977 was 15.85%. The inflation rate in 1978 was 8.30%. The 1978 inflation rate is higher compared to the average inflation rate of 4.38% per year between 1978 and 2024.

Inflation rate is calculated by change in the composite price index (CPI). The CPI in 1978 was 197.10. It was 182.00 in the previous year, 1977. The difference in CPI between the years is used by the Office for National Statistics to officially determine inflation.

⌃
Inflation from 1977 to 1978
Average inflation rate8.30%
Converted amount
£1 base		£1.08
Price difference
£1 base		£0.08
CPI in 1977182.000
CPI in 1978197.100
Inflation in 197715.85%
Inflation in 19788.30%
£1 in 1977£1.08 in 1978
Recent GBP inflation
Annual Rate, the Office for National Statistics CPI
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How to calculate inflation rate for £1, 1977 to 1978

Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1977 and 1978:

CPI in 1978 CPI in 1977
×
1977 GBP value
=
1978 GBP value

Then plug in historical CPI values. The U.K. CPI was 182 in the year 1977 and 197.1 in 1978:

197.1182
×
£1
=
£1.08

£1 in 1977 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as £1.08 in 1978.

To get the total inflation rate for the 1 years between 1977 and 1978, we use the following formula:

CPI in 1978 - CPI in 1977CPI in 1977
×
100
=
Cumulative inflation rate (1 years)

Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:

197.1 - 182182
×
100
=
8%

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 1978 | UK Inflation Calculator.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 10 Dec. 2024, https://www.officialdata.org/UK-inflation-rate-in-1978.

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 1977 to 1978
Average inflation rate8.30%
Converted amount
£1 base		£1.08
Price difference
£1 base		£0.08
CPI in 1977182.000
CPI in 1978197.100
Inflation in 197715.85%
Inflation in 19788.30%
£1 in 1977£1.08 in 1978