Pay Rise vs Inflation Calculator
Find out if your salary has kept up with rising prices
Your Pay
Use your salary before tax, as shown in your contract or payslip.
Your Pay In Real Terms
Your pay has fallen behind inflation by
−£4,737 a year
−12.2% in real terms
To match rising prices, your £30,000 salary in 2021 would need to be £38,737 in 2026 (September). You earn £34,000.
Your pay rose by
+13.3%
Prices rose by
29.1%
between 2021 and 2026
Based on the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) from the Office for National Statistics, using yearly averages. 2026 uses the latest figure, for September. Figures are before tax.
Disclaimer: These figures are estimates for guidance only and errors may occur. They compare pay before tax with average price rises, so your own experience may differ.
About real-terms pay
A pay rise only makes you better off if it beats inflation. If your salary went up 5% but prices went up 8%, you can afford less than before, even though your payslip shows more money. This calculator compares your pay rise with official UK inflation figures to show whether your pay has really gone up or down.
Economists call this "real-terms" pay: what your salary is worth once rising prices are taken into account. Between 2021 and 2023, UK inflation rose much faster than most pay rises, so many people saw their real pay fall even while their salary grew. Since then, pay has generally grown faster than prices, winning back some of that lost ground.
Knowing your real-terms pay is useful when you are asking for a raise. If your salary has fallen behind inflation, you can show exactly how much more you would need just to stand still, before any increase for extra experience or responsibility.
The calculator takes the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) from the Office for National Statistics for each year you choose. It works out how much prices rose between them, then grows your earlier salary by the same amount. That shows what you would need to earn now to buy the same things. The difference between that figure and your current salary is your real-terms gain or loss.
Each year uses the average price level for that year. 2026 uses the latest monthly figure, for September. The comparison uses pay before tax. Changes to tax bands can mean your take-home pay has risen by a different amount; our net salary calculator shows your take-home pay for this year.