Here’s just how much the value of a fiver has fallen in the past 60 years
With the deadline for using up old paper £5 notes looming, new research shows just how the value of a fiver has changed since the modern blue note was introduced in 1957.
The value of a £5 note has fallen by 96 per cent over the last 60 years, according to research from Lloyds Private Banking.
A 23-fold increase in retail prices means someone in 2017 would need £113 to have the equivalent purchasing power of £5 in 1957.
The purchasing power of the pound has eroded at an average rate of 5.3 per cent a year over the past 60 years while retail prices surged.
£5 in
Equivalent spending power in 2017
1957
£113.3
1967
£85.3
1977
£29.2
1987
£13.2
1997
£8.5
2007
£6.5
2017
£5
And as for the future?
If retail prices continue to rise by the current rate of inflation, 2.8 per cent a year, the value will decline by a further 80 per cent over the next 60 years, Lloyds found. That means someone in 2077 would need £29.22 to have the same spending power as one £5 note today.
Read more: Check your pockets: You need to spend all paper £5 notes today
The prices of household items have also risen quite a bit since 1957…
Estimated Average price 1975
Average price 2017
Per cent change 1957-2017
White bread
£0.05
£0.99
2,061 per cent
Pint of milk
£0.03
£0.43
1,198 per cent
Butter
£0.09
£1.40
1,410 per cent
Sugar
£0.07
£0.63
872 per cent
A dozen eggs
£0.19
£2.04
975 per cent
Self-raising flour
£0.10
£0.82
742 per cent
Ham
£0.82
£1.90
131 per cent
Pork loin
£0.48
£7.40
1,441 per cent
Cheddar cheese
£0.23
£8.38
3,542 per cent
Pint of beer
£0.05
£3
6,178 per cent
Sarah Deaves, private banking director at Lloyds Private Banking, said:
“The old £5 note issued in 1957 had a strong purchasing power back then when households could buy a basket of goods from their grocer with change left over for a pint or two of beer. Today that purchasing power has been eroded significantly due to the substantial rise in the general level of prices.
“It is interesting to note that despite the ups and downs in the stock market, UK shares have outpaced cash over this period. If people had invested in 1957 their investment would have outstripped inflation many times over, which suggests that taking a longer-term view of investing can pay dividends.”
According to Lloyd’s research, if you invested £5 in UK shares in 1957, your fiver would now be worth £427 – an increase of 8,443 per cent.
Read more: Here are all the ways Britons will spend their last paper fiver