Here's how much life cost in 1995 compared to 2025

You'll be – gasp! – marking thirty years of life this year.

This might make you feel quite old, but it could also lead you to think about how much the world has changed compared to how it was back then.

And the bills we paid in the 90s are still perfectly valid and on record.

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Compared to now, what was your typical weekly shop for food, drinks and treats like in 1995?

Take a step back three decades, gazing dejectedly into the contents of your wallet, which is 2025.

1. Half a litre of milk

How much does a pint of milk cost? It might have been a well-known celebrity interview question back in the nineties, but back then it wasn't particularly pricey to pick up some milk for your cuppa.

In 1995, the average price of a pint was about 36p, so for a bit more than 70p you could get two. That's ample to top up your hot drinks for several days.

Now, as things stand? A pint of semi-skimmed has nearly doubled in price, costing you around 85p at Sainsbury’s. If you look at Waitrose, you'll find it's actually even more expensive, costing just 95p.

2. A visit to the pub for a half-litre of beer

From a pint of milk, we are moving on to a pint of something stronger. Visiting the pub continues to be a very popular activity in the UK in the year 2025, just as it was back in 1995, but at that time it would cost you a great deal less.

The average price of a pint of beer 30 years ago was a meagre £1.68. And today? As of November 2024, the Office for National Statistics states that the average pint is priced roughly £4.81.

This, of course, depends on the part of the country you are in. This is Money reported last year that Gloucester is the most affordable place to have a pint, at a price of around £3.61 - while in London, your after-work drink could cost as much as £6.75.

3. A cinema ticket

Going to the cinema was a big deal in 1995, with releases like Toy Story, Jumanji and Die Hard With A Vengeance being major crowd-pleasers, so it's no surprise why.

But how much would it cost you if you had gone to watch those films on the big screen in your local cinema rather than waiting for them to be released on DVD?

Well, back in 1995 you could pay just £3.48 for the privilege of watching Buzz Lightyear enjoying himself on the big screen. These days? According to the UK Cinema Association, the average cost of a cinema ticket in the UK is £7.92. However, the price does vary depending on where you are in the country - some cinemas in London, like the one in Selfridges, can cost as much as £20 per ticket.

4. A Mars bar

So you've bought your milk, you've had your pint, you've visited the local cinema to watch a film and now you pick up a Mars bar to snack on your way home. How much is it costing you? Well, if you'd done this back in 1995, you could expect to pay just 25p for the pleasure of enjoying the chocolate treat.

In recent times, if you buy a Mars bar in Tesco, you can expect to pay a considerable 85p for a single bar, while it's even pricier in other stores, such as Waitrose, where the chocolate costs £1. That's an awful lot of money for one Mars bar.

5. A dozen eggs

As the saying goes, you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs – and if you pick up a dozen you'll have one big omelette on your hands. But just how much would that massive breakfast have cost you a few decades back?

You could purchase a box of 12 for a mere – or exceedingly cheap – 63p. These days, a pack of medium free-range eggs from Tesco will cost you £2.65, and if you want large eggs it’ll be even more expensive at £3.15. So, that affordable weekend brunch no longer seems so reasonable.

6. What does a litre of petrol cost?

If you regularly drive, there's a good chance you'll be grumbling about petrol costs. In 1995, a litre of petrol came in at a lowly 53p.

Now, according to RAC Fuel Watch, the average cost of a litre across the UK is approximately £1.36 for your petrol and £1.41 for diesel. Which, although lower than it was a couple of years ago, can still make refilling your car rather expensive.

7. What is typically associated with supporting Manchester United during a football season.

How many of you would jump at the chance to attend every Manchester United home game of the season? Not a single hand, I take it? Well, if that sounds like you, the simplest way to make it happen is by purchasing a season ticket, naturally.

If you were going to Old Trafford in 1995 and wanted to show your dedication to the Red Devils, who won the title that year, you'd have had to pay £228. Nowadays, however, the cheapest Manchester United season ticket costs £579 - that's more than twice what it was thirty years ago to watch a team half as successful. Even so, it's a relatively affordable price compared to Arsenal, where the cheapest season ticket is a significant £1,073.

8. A Pot Noodle

Who can resist the occasional Pot Noodle? In 1995, buying a Pot Noodle would cost you roughly 67p. Come 2025, your standard chicken and mushroom noodles will cost approximately £1.10 at both Tesco and Asda.

However prices vary, and supermarkets sometimes run special deals on them, which can bring the price down to levels last seen in 1995, letting you experience the era again.

9. A loaf of bread

Note: I've kept the informal tone and language of the original text, and only converted the sentence structure and vocabulary to make it more suitable for UK English.

Surprisingly, this is an area where you can potentially save money compared to 1995, assuming the loaf you buy. Tesco's cheapest loaf, HW Nevil's white bread, currently costs 47p, while Sainsbury's equivalent Stanford Street loaf is 50p.

Want anything fancier than a white sandwich loaf? Then get ready to pay more, as Tesco's standard white bread is 74p and a Warburton's toastie loaf is £1. And you'll probably need a mortgage to afford sourdough.

10. Sony PlayStation

Alright, we understand the 90s may not have had all the modern features we're accustomed to with our technology today (picture, for example, a time when mobile phones were predominantly used just for making phone calls). Nevertheless, one thing that did capture our attention during that decade was the Sony PlayStation.

Originally launching in Japan at the end of 1994 before arriving in Europe in September 1995, the first PlayStation would have cost you approximately £200. Nowadays, following several generations of the console - including the latest PS5, the price range is anything from £390 to just under £500, depending on the model and whether it comes with any games.

11. Fish and chips

Oh, fish and chips. Wherever your home is in the country, you can't avoid this quintessentially British of treats. My 90sthings claims that your Friday night takeaway would have cost you just £1.68 in 1995. Fast forward thirty years and, according to the Office for National Statistics, the average price of your fish supper in 2024 was approximately £9.88.

In certain areas, the price is significantly higher. For instance, London's Poppies chippie chain charges a substantial £22.95 for a large cod or haddock with chips. Although we can't verify the cost at every chip shop nationwide, it's evident that the price varies significantly depending on the location. Nevertheless, it's likely to be somewhat more than £1.68.

12. A house

With so many struggling to get a foot on the property market these days, it's fair to say that the cost of buying a home has risen sharply over the past few decades – but how much did it cost back in 1995, for instance? Well, you could buy your own place for an average price of £55,762, which sounds like a relatively affordable price, but it's also worth bearing in mind that the average wage was lower, so owning a property wasn't an option for everyone even back then.

Now? Zoopla reported last November that the average house price in the UK is £267,500 – and, of course, it depends on the sort of property you buy and where you reside. Zoopla also found that the average property price in London is a staggering £537,500. Ouch.

What was the average annual salary in 1995?

So, we've recapped how much everything cost back in 1995 and you may have gazed at the price tags for those Mars bars in dismay, wishing they would decrease. However, looking back, what was the average wage in 1995?

According to the Office for National Statistics, the average full-time male worker aged 30-39 would earn around £389.70 a week, compared to £306.50 for a full-time female worker of the same age.

In 2024, the average annual weekly wage in the UK was £728. So as things were more affordable, it's worth keeping in mind that people were earning significantly less to buy them.

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