Sarah Thompson loads her weekly Tesco shop into the car in Stockport. Same items as always: milk, bread, chicken, vegetables, cereal for the kids. The receipt shows £127. Three years ago, this exact shop cost her £100.

That £27 difference isn't speculation about what might happen if petrol prices rise due to Middle East tensions. It's already happened, sitting in her kitchen cupboards right now.

The CPIH data reveals the relentless mathematics of modern Britain. The consumer price index, which includes housing costs, has climbed from 178,141 in 2022 to 201,118 in 2025 (Source: ONS, CPIH (Consumer Prices Index including Housing)). That's a 13% increase in three years, compounding month after month while wages struggled to keep pace.

This isn't just about expensive energy bills or mortgage rates. It's about everything. The loaf of bread that cost £1.20 in 2022 now costs £1.35. The pint of milk has jumped from £1.15 to £1.30. Chicken breast, the protein that kept families fed affordably through previous economic squeezes, has risen from £5.50 per kilo to £6.20.

Zoom out from Sarah's shopping trolley and the scale becomes staggering. 38 million households across Britain are facing the same arithmetic. Each weekly shop costs more. Each monthly rent payment eats deeper into take-home pay. Each utility bill lands heavier than the last.

The index started this measurement period at just 100 in 1988. By 2021, it had reached 162,574. Then came the acceleration: a 24% jump in just four years as supply chains buckled, energy markets convulsed, and post-pandemic demand collided with stretched production capacity.

For families like Sarah's, the impact isn't theoretical. It's the difference between a family holiday and staying home. Between replacing the broken washing machine immediately or waiting six months. Between the kids getting new school shoes when they need them or making the old ones last another term.

The data shows no signs of slowing. From 195,247 in 2024 to 201,118 in 2025, inflation continues its steady climb. While politicians debate future fuel costs and potential economic shocks, British households are already living through the most sustained price rises in a generation.

Sarah's £27 weekly increase multiplies across 52 weeks into £1,404 annually. For millions of families operating on tight budgets, that's not just inflation. That's choosing between heating and eating, made real in the supermarket aisles where life actually happens.