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Trade Reality Check

Has your day rate kept up with inflation?

Your rate might be higher than it used to be — but is it actually worth more? Enter an old rate and see what it would need to be today just to have roughly the same buying power.

What type of rate do you want to compare?

Use both rates the same way — for example, both before VAT if you add VAT on top.

Your reality check

£264

is roughly what your £200 day rate from 2019 would need to be today to have similar buying power.

Your current rate£250/day
Inflation-adjusted equivalent£264/day
Difference£14/day behind
Your rate hasn't quite kept up with inflation
Your rate has gone from £200 to £250, but general prices have risen faster over the same period. To match the buying power of £200 in 2019, the equivalent rate today is about £264.
What that difference looks like over a year
About £2,590
At 180 billable days, the £14 day-rate difference is equivalent to roughly £2,590 less purchasing power over a year.
What is your current rate worth in 2019 money?
£189
Your £250 rate today has roughly the same buying power as £189 did in 2019.
+25.0%Your rate increased
+32.2%General prices increased

Although your rate went up 25.0%, it did not quite keep pace with general inflation of about 32.2%.

Uses the UK Consumer Prices Index (CPI), All Items series D7BT, as a general inflation benchmark. Your actual business costs may have risen by more or less.
Latest CPI data used: checked when the calculator loads. Source: Office for National Statistics.

A free tool from SmartTradie

How the calculator works

Choose an old day or hourly rate and the year it was from. The calculator compares the average ONS CPI index for that year with the latest published monthly CPI index to show the equivalent rate today. It then compares that figure with what you charge now and, if you enter annual billable days or hours, shows the approximate difference over a year.

Why it is worth knowing

A higher rate does not always mean higher real earnings. General prices can rise faster than your rate, so this gives you a simple benchmark for whether your rate has broadly kept pace. It does not tell you what to charge, and your actual trade costs may have moved very differently from CPI.

This is a simple inflation and purchasing-power sense-check using ONS CPI data, not pricing, accounting or financial advice. Your actual business costs may have changed differently.

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