Cost of living in the UK in 2026: what everyday things cost

In the UK in 2026, a litre of petrol costs about 175.6p, household electricity about 30.6p per kWh, a Big Mac £5.49, Netflix Standard £13.99 a month and the iPhone 18 Pro £1,199. Average income is about $54,550 per person (roughly £41,273). The defining feature of British living costs right now is energy: household power is dearer in only 5 of the 134 countries we track.

This guide sticks to prices we collect ourselves, from Apple, Netflix and Spotify’s UK storefronts, GlobalPetrolPrices and The Economist’s Big Mac Index. It does not cover rent, council tax, food shopping or rail fares, which we don’t track; for most households those, and housing above all, are the larger costs.

Energy is where Britain stands out

Few rich countries pay as much for electricity. At $0.405 per kWh for households and $0.444 for businesses, the UK is the most expensive country in our data for business power. Using 2,700 kWh a year, the typical household consumption Ofgem uses for its price-cap examples, the unit cost alone comes to about £827 a year, or £69 a month, before standing charges.

The striking column is the second one. In every other country listed, businesses pay less per unit than homes; in Britain they pay more. Because gas-fired plants set the wholesale price for much of the year, Britain’s power bills follow the gas market closely, and network charges and policy costs sit on top. High business energy costs also feed into what shops, pubs and manufacturers charge for everything else. See where every country ranks on the electricity prices page.

What has gone up since the summer

We started tracking these prices on 2026-07-03, so we can see what has moved in pounds, without exchange rates getting in the way. Of the 6 prices below, 5 rose, with Netflix Standard with ads up the most (+33%).

Netflix raised every UK plan, and the cheapest tier rose fastest in percentage terms, which narrows the gap that keeps people on the entry plan. Spotify has held at £12.99. Petrol is the most volatile line: it tracks oil prices and sterling, and roughly half of the pump price is fuel duty and VAT, which don’t move with the market. The live figure is on the UK petrol price page, and Netflix’s changes across all countries are covered in the 2026 Netflix price increase.

Subscriptions are another quietly expensive line. At £12.99 a month, or $17.17, Spotify Premium in the UK is the most expensive of the 9 countries where we track it, against $12.99 in the US. Netflix Premium, at £20.99, is $27.74. A household paying for both spends £408 a year, about 1.0% of average annual income. Compare every country on the Spotify price page.

Phones: the pound-for-dollar habit

Apple sets UK prices at the same number in pounds as the US price in dollars for all 7 current iPhones, including the iPhone 18 Pro at £1,199 against $1,199. That looks like a straight markup, but the comparison isn’t like for like: the UK price includes 20% VAT and the US price has no sales tax in it. Remove the VAT and the iPhone 18 Pro is £999, about $1,321, which is $122 above the American shelf price. For context, the iPhone 17 Pro it replaced was last listed at £1,099. See every storage tier on the iPhone 18 Pro UK page.

Set against British incomes

British average income is below that of Germany, the United States and Canada, so prices that look similar in dollars take a larger bite here than in the richest peers. Measured in time at the average wage:

• United Kingdom ($54,550): iPhone 18 Pro 10.6 days, Big Mac 17 min, Netflix Standard 0.4% of monthly income
• Germany ($60,200): iPhone 18 Pro 9.8 days, Big Mac 15 min, Netflix Standard 0.4% of monthly income
• United States ($88,810): iPhone 18 Pro 4.9 days, Big Mac 9 min, Netflix Standard 0.3% of monthly income
• Canada ($56,420): iPhone 18 Pro 7.9 days, Big Mac 13 min, Netflix Standard 0.3% of monthly income
• Japan ($38,340): iPhone 18 Pro 13.2 days, Big Mac 10 min, Netflix Standard 0.3% of monthly income

One oddity: a British Big Mac ($7.40) now costs more in dollars than an American one ($6.22), despite lower British incomes. For the full side-by-side view, see UK vs USA and Germany vs UK, or the United Kingdom country page.