Look Back To The 2020s so far: The Whole Decade
A pandemic, a Jubilee, the end of the longest reign in British history and the arrival of everyday artificial intelligence.
Below is the decade in sections, and a link to every single year from 2020 to 2025.
Milestone birthday cards, drawn and printed by us
Funny and warm birthday cards, blank inside, printed in the UK with kraft envelopes. Order on a working day and it usually goes out the same day.
Happy Birthday Papa (Happy Birthday Card) (Multiple designs)
£3.87
Happy Birthday Bab (Happy Birthday Card) (Multiple designs)
£3.87
Yoda Best Multi-Occasion Greeting Card
£3.87
Happy Birthday Handsome (Happy Birthday Card) (Multiple designs)
£3.87
You Old Bastard (Funny Birthday Card)
£3.87
Happy Birthday Card For The World's Best Sister-in-Law
£3.87
The music
- Ladbaby took the Christmas number one for a fourth and fifth year running in 2020 and 2021, then stood aside.
- Wham!'s 'Last Christmas' finally reached number one at Christmas 2023, thirty-nine years after release.
- Taylor Swift's Eras Tour played UK stadiums in 2024 and was the biggest tour of the era.
- Streaming decides the chart now, and catalogue Christmas songs return to the top twenty every December.
- Harry Styles, Dua Lipa, Adele and Sam Fender were among the British acts of the first half of the decade.
The news
- The first UK lockdown began on 23 March 2020, and the vaccine rollout started in December 2020.
- The Platinum Jubilee was celebrated in June 2022, and Queen Elizabeth II died on 8 September 2022.
- King Charles III was crowned on 6 May 2023.
- Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, and energy prices rose sharply across Europe.
- Labour won the general election on 4 July 2024.
On screen
- Streaming took over completely during lockdown, with Tiger King and Normal People in spring 2020.
- Line of Duty's 2021 finale drew the biggest drama audience in Britain for over a decade.
- Squid Game, Adolescence and Baby Reindeer showed how fast a Netflix show can become a national conversation.
- Cinema recovered with Barbie and Oppenheimer in the same weekend in July 2023.
- Gavin & Stacey returned for a final Christmas special in 2024.
Everyday life
- Video calls, working from home and online food shopping all became normal within weeks in 2020.
- Cash use fell sharply and never came back to where it was.
- The cost of living, energy bills and mortgage rates dominated 2022 and 2023.
- ChatGPT launched at the end of 2022 and artificial intelligence became an everyday word.
- Clapping on doorsteps on Thursday evenings in spring 2020 is the thing most people remember first.
Year by year
- 2020 - see the full page for that year, linked below.
- 2021 - see the full page for that year, linked below.
- 2022 - see the full page for that year, linked below.
- 2023 - see the full page for that year, linked below.
- 2024 - see the full page for that year, linked below.
- 2025 - see the full page for that year, linked below.
How to write it so it lands
- Each year has its own page with the charts, the news and the everyday detail.
- For a party, pull three facts from one year and run it as a guess-the-year round.
- For a card, use the year they were born rather than the decade.
Where to shop next
- Look back to 2025
- Look back to 2024
- Look back to 2023
- Look back to 2022
- Look back to 2021
- Look back to 2020
- 2020s party playlist
- Viral and TikTok party games
- Phone party games
- How to run a quiz night
- Guess the year quiz
- The 2020s so far
- The 2010s: the whole decade
- The 2000s: the whole decade
- The 1990s: the whole decade
- The 1980s: the whole decade
- The 1970s: the whole decade
- The 1960s: the whole decade
- The 1950s: the whole decade
- The 1940s: the whole decade
- The 1930s: the whole decade
- The 1920s: the whole decade
- Decade calendar: every year from 1920
- Decade trivia: fun facts by era
- Decade trivia game: play for points
- Decade guides: books, films and TV by era
- Decade recipes: dishes and food trends by era
- Decade travel: destinations and holidays by era
- Decade tech: gadgets and computers by era
- Decade films: best movies and directors by era
- Decade art: artists, styles and trends by era
- Decade books: best novels, authors and reading trends
- Music by decade: albums, artists and songs
- Decade fashion: clothes, hair and accessories by era
- Nostalgia gift shop
- Retro party supplies
- Nostalgia birthday party by decade
- Nostalgia hamper and gift ideas
- Care home reminiscence quiz
- Reminiscence gifts for grandparents
- Milestone birthday cards
- Shop birthday cards
- Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
- How to make a balloon arch
- Photo booth prop ideas
- Pin badges
- All guides
Frequently asked questions
When did the first UK lockdown start?
The stay-at-home instruction was announced on the evening of 23 March 2020.
When did Queen Elizabeth II die?
8 September 2022, at Balmoral, after a reign of seventy years - the longest in British history.
When was the Platinum Jubilee?
June 2022, marking seventy years on the throne, with a four-day bank holiday weekend from 2 to 5 June.
Why is this page shorter than the other decades?
Because the 2020s are not finished. We add a new page each January once a year has ended.
Do you sell anything to do with this decade?
We make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK, including milestone birthday cards. The pages themselves are free to read and free to copy.