UK Printer Ink Cost Per Page Statistics (2026 Data)

A black page from a genuine UK ink cartridge costs between 3.58p and 10.66p in our sample of maker store prices checked on 18 October 2026, while Canon and Epson ink bottles print black for about 0.23p a page. Every figure below comes from the maker’s own UK store or specification page and its declared page yield.

Key figures at a glance

How much does a black page cost from an ink cartridge?

Cost per page is the maker’s UK store price divided by the page yield the maker declares for that cartridge.

Sources: Brother UK, Canon PG-545XL, Canon PG-545, Epson 604XL black, Epson 604 black. Prices checked 18 October 2026.

HP is missing from this table because the HP UK store did not show cartridge prices to our browser on the check date. HP’s yields are listed further down.

What does a colour page cost by brand?

A page drawing on every cartridge costs from 10.90p with Brother LC424 inks to 22.64p with Epson 604XL inks in our sample. Each figure adds the black cost per page to the colour cost per page. Treat it as a comparison figure only, since real pages use different amounts of each ink.

Brother’s colour cartridges cost £18.31 each for 750 pages, Canon’s CL-546XL tri-colour cartridge £25.49 for 300 pages, and each Epson 604XL colour cartridge £18.49 for 350 pages. If you are weighing these brands against each other, our Epson vs Canon printer comparison covers the printers that take these inks.

How much cheaper are XL cartridges per page?

XL cartridges cost less per page than standard cartridges in every pair we checked.

• Canon: the PG-545XL costs 38% less per black page than the standard PG-545 (6.37p against 10.27p).
• Epson: the 604XL black costs 36% less per page than the standard 604 black (6.80p against 10.66p).
• HP: the 305XL black is rated for 2.5 times the pages of the standard 305 black (about 300 against about 120), and the 305XL tri-colour for 3 times the pages of the standard 305 tri-colour (about 300 against about 100). HP 305XL black specification, HP 305 black specification.

How much cheaper are ink tank bottles than cartridges?

Ink tank bottles print black for about 0.23p a page, roughly 27 to 29 times less than the same maker’s XL cartridge.

• Canon GI-51 black bottle: £13.99 for 135 ml and up to 6,000 pages, which is 0.23p a page. Canon’s PG-545XL cartridge costs about 27 times more per black page. Canon GI-51 PGBK
• Canon GI-51 colour bottles: £9.09 each, and Canon says a full set of colour bottles prints up to 7,700 pages, which is 0.35p a page for the three bottles.
• Epson 104 black bottle: £10.49 for 65 ml and up to 4,500 pages, which is 0.23p a page. Epson’s 604XL black cartridge costs about 29 times more per page. Epson 104 65 ml
• Epson 104 four-bottle set: £37.99 for 260 ml, rated for up to 4,500 black and 7,500 colour pages. Epson 104 260 ml set

Bottle printers cost more to buy than cartridge printers, so the saving only arrives once you print enough pages. If you print rarely, read our guide to the best printer for infrequent use before choosing a tank model.

What does HP Instant Ink cost per page?

HP Instant Ink costs from 17.9p a page on the 10-page plan to 4.14p a page on the 700-page plan, assuming the whole monthly allowance is used. The subscription charges for pages, not ink, so a colour page costs the same as a black one. HP Instant Ink UK plans

For how Instant Ink compares with Epson’s bottle system on a real printer purchase, see Epson vs HP printers.

How much ink is in a cartridge?

HP 305 cartridges hold 2 ml to 5 ml of ink, Canon PG-545 and CL-546 cartridges hold 8 ml to 15 ml, and the ink bottles hold 65 ml to 135 ml.

HP volumes and yields come from HP’s product specification pages for the 305 tri-colour and 305XL tri-colour and the black pages linked above. Volumes are not comparable across brands as a measure of value, because inks and print heads differ.

How are page yields measured?

Most makers declare page yields under ISO/IEC 24711. Canon’s bottle yields use Canon’s own test method, Epson adapts ISO/IEC 24711 for its bottles, and HP says its figures follow ISO/IEC 24711 or HP’s own method.

• The standard: ISO/IEC 24711:2021 sets the method for measuring ink cartridge yield on colour inkjet printers. ISO lists it as Edition 4, published January 2021, and last reviewed and confirmed in 2026. ISO/IEC 24711:2021
• What it covers: ISO says the method only measures yield when printing on plain paper, and “No other claims can be made from this testing regarding quality, reliability, etc.” It uses the test page suite defined in ISO/IEC 24712.
• Epson’s method: Epson says it tests to ISO/IEC 24711 and 24712, prints a suite of five patterns continuously, replaces cartridges when the printer signals depletion, and rounds declared yields down. Epson page yield method
• HP’s method: HP footnotes its 305 yields: “Approximate average based on ISO/IEC 24711 or HP testing methodology and continuous printing.” The cartridges were tested in the HP ENVY 6000 series.
• Canon’s bottles: Canon states that GI-51 bottle yields use “Canon’s individual test method using the ISO/IEC 24712 colour chart”, not ISO/IEC 24711.
• Brother: Brother states each LC424 cartridge “Prints 750 pages in accordance with ISO/IEC 24711”.

Methodology

We checked each maker’s UK online store on 18 October 2026 and recorded the displayed price including VAT, the declared page yield and, where shown, the ink volume. Cost per page is price divided by declared pages, rounded to two decimal places. Percentages and multiples are calculated from unrounded values. The sample covers one common cartridge family per brand plus the bottle ranges whose yields are published on the maker’s page. HP cartridge prices were not shown by the HP UK store on the check date, so HP appears only for yields, volumes and Instant Ink plans. Brother prices are the SRP shown on its UK supplies page.

Limitations

• Maker store prices are often higher than retailer prices, and Epson was running a voucher offer on the check date that we did not apply.
• Declared yields come from continuous printing of standard test pages. Infrequent printing, cleaning cycles and photo printing all reduce real yields.
• Canon’s PG-545 page cites ISO/IEC 24734, a print speed standard, next to its yield. We report the 180-page figure as Canon states it.
• Epson’s 604XL black page says up to 500 pages in its description, while its 604XL multipack listing card says 550 pages black. We used 500.
• The Epson 604 standard black yield of 150 pages comes from the 604 multipack card shown on Epson’s 604 product pages.
• Cost per page does not include the printer price, paper or electricity.

Download the data

Download the full table as a CSV: uk-printer-ink-cost-per-page.csv. It lists every product, price, declared yield, ink volume, derived cost per page, source URL and check date.

How to cite this page

Colour Label Printer, “UK Printer Ink Cost Per Page Statistics (2026 Data)”, updated 18 October 2026, https://colourlabelprinter.com/printer-ink-cost-per-page-statistics/

Sources

1. ISO, ISO/IEC 24711:2021 catalogue page, checked 18 October 2026.
2. Epson Europe, How Epson measures page yields, checked 18 October 2026.
3. Epson UK store, 604XL black, 604XL cyan, 604XL magenta, 604XL yellow, 604 black, 104 65 ml, 104 260 ml set, checked 18 October 2026.
4. Canon UK store, PG-545, PG-545XL, CL-546, CL-546XL, GI-51 PGBK, checked 18 October 2026.
5. Brother UK, DCP-J1200W supplies (LC424 cartridges), checked 18 October 2026.
6. HP, product specifications for 305 black, 305XL black, 305 tri-colour, 305XL tri-colour, checked 18 October 2026.
7. HP UK, Instant Ink plans, checked 18 October 2026.