What was a pound worth in 1800 UK?

The British pound has lost 99% its value since 1800

Updated: December 13, 2022

£100 in 1800 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £9,899.46 today, an increase of £9,799.46 over 222 years. The pound had an average inflation rate of 2.09% per year between 1800 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 9,799.46%.

This means that today's prices are 98.99 times as high as average prices since 1800, according to the Office for National Statistics composite price index. A pound today only buys 1.010% of what it could buy back then.

The inflation rate in 1800 was 36.36%. The current inflation rate compared to last year is now 13.20%. If this number holds, £100 today will be equivalent in buying power to £113.20 next year.


Inflation from 1800 to 2022

Cumulative price change 9,799.46%
Average inflation rate 2.09%
Converted amount (£100 base) £9,899.46
Price difference (£100 base) £9,799.46
CPI in 1800 13.500
CPI in 2022 1,336.427
Inflation in 1800 36.36%
Inflation in 2022 13.20%
£100 in 1800 £9,899.46 in 2022

GBP inflation since 1800

Annual Rate, the Office for National Statistics CPI

Download


Buying power of £100 in 1800

This chart shows a calculation of buying power equivalence for £100 in 1800 (price index tracking began in 1750).

For example, if you started with £100, you would need to end with £9,899.46 in order to "adjust" for inflation (sometimes refered to as "beating inflation").

When £100 is equivalent to £9,899.46 over time, that means that the "real value" of a single U.K. pound decreases over time. In other words, a pound will pay for fewer items at the store.

This effect explains how inflation erodes the value of a pound over time. By calculating the value in 1800 dollars, the chart below shows how £100 is worth less over 222 years.

According to the Office for National Statistics, each of these GBP amounts below is equal in terms of what it could buy at the time:

Pound inflation: 1800-2022

YearPound ValueInflation Rate
1800 £100.00 36.36%
1801 £111.85 11.85%
1802 £85.93 -23.18%
1803 £81.48 -5.17%
1804 £83.70 2.73%
1805 £97.04 15.93%
1806 £93.33 -3.82%
1807 £91.11 -2.38%
1808 £94.81 4.07%
1809 £103.70 9.37%
1810 £106.67 2.86%
1811 £103.70 -2.78%
1812 £117.78 13.57%
1813 £120.74 2.52%
1814 £105.19 -12.88%
1815 £94.07 -10.56%
1816 £85.93 -8.66%
1817 £97.78 13.79%
1818 £97.78 0.00%
1819 £95.56 -2.27%
1820 £86.67 -9.30%
1821 £76.30 -11.97%
1822 £65.93 -13.59%
1823 £70.37 6.74%
1824 £76.30 8.42%
1825 £89.63 17.48%
1826 £84.44 -5.79%
1827 £79.26 -6.14%
1828 £77.04 -2.80%
1829 £76.30 -0.96%
1830 £73.33 -3.88%
1831 £80.74 10.10%
1832 £74.81 -7.34%
1833 £70.37 -5.94%
1834 £64.44 -8.42%
1835 £65.93 2.30%
1836 £73.33 11.24%
1837 £74.81 2.02%
1838 £75.56 0.99%
1839 £80.74 6.86%
1840 £82.22 1.83%
1841 £80.74 -1.80%
1842 £74.07 -8.26%
1843 £65.93 -11.00%
1844 £65.93 0.00%
1845 £68.89 4.49%
1846 £71.85 4.30%
1847 £80.74 12.37%
1848 £70.37 -12.84%
1849 £65.93 -6.32%
1850 £62.22 -5.62%
1851 £60.00 -3.57%
1852 £60.00 0.00%
1853 £65.93 9.88%
1854 £75.56 14.61%
1855 £77.78 2.94%
1856 £77.78 0.00%
1857 £74.07 -4.76%
1858 £67.41 -9.00%
1859 £66.67 -1.10%
1860 £68.89 3.33%
1861 £70.37 2.15%
1862 £68.89 -2.11%
1863 £66.67 -3.23%
1864 £65.93 -1.11%
1865 £66.67 1.12%
1866 £70.37 5.56%
1867 £74.81 6.32%
1868 £74.07 -0.99%
1869 £70.37 -5.00%
1870 £70.37 0.00%
1871 £71.11 1.05%
1872 £74.07 4.17%
1873 £77.04 4.00%
1874 £74.07 -3.85%
1875 £72.59 -2.00%
1876 £72.59 0.00%
1877 £71.85 -1.02%
1878 £70.37 -2.06%
1879 £67.41 -4.21%
1880 £69.63 3.30%
1881 £68.89 -1.06%
1882 £69.63 1.08%
1883 £68.89 -1.06%
1884 £67.41 -2.15%
1885 £65.19 -3.30%
1886 £64.44 -1.14%
1887 £63.70 -1.15%
1888 £64.44 1.16%
1889 £65.19 1.15%
1890 £65.19 0.00%
1891 £65.93 1.14%
1892 £65.93 0.00%
1893 £65.19 -1.12%
1894 £64.44 -1.14%
1895 £63.70 -1.15%
1896 £62.96 -1.16%
1897 £64.44 2.35%
1898 £64.44 0.00%
1899 £65.19 1.15%
1900 £68.15 4.55%
1901 £68.15 0.00%
1902 £68.15 0.00%
1903 £68.89 1.09%
1904 £68.89 0.00%
1905 £68.89 0.00%
1906 £68.89 0.00%
1907 £69.63 1.08%
1908 £69.63 0.00%
1909 £70.37 1.06%
1910 £71.11 1.05%
1911 £71.11 0.00%
1912 £73.33 3.13%
1913 £72.59 -1.01%
1914 £72.59 0.00%
1915 £81.48 12.24%
1916 £96.30 18.18%
1917 £120.74 25.38%
1918 £147.41 22.09%
1919 £162.22 10.05%
1920 £187.41 15.53%
1921 £171.11 -8.70%
1922 £147.41 -13.85%
1923 £138.52 -6.03%
1924 £137.78 -0.53%
1925 £137.78 0.00%
1926 £137.04 -0.54%
1927 £133.33 -2.70%
1928 £133.33 0.00%
1929 £131.85 -1.11%
1930 £128.15 -2.81%
1931 £122.96 -4.05%
1932 £120.00 -2.41%
1933 £117.04 -2.47%
1934 £117.04 0.00%
1935 £117.78 0.63%
1936 £118.52 0.63%
1937 £122.96 3.75%
1938 £124.44 1.20%
1939 £128.15 2.98%
1940 £149.63 16.76%
1941 £165.93 10.89%
1942 £177.78 7.14%
1943 £183.70 3.33%
1944 £188.89 2.82%
1945 £194.07 2.75%
1946 £200.00 3.05%
1947 £214.07 7.04%
1948 £230.37 7.61%
1949 £237.04 2.89%
1950 £244.44 3.13%
1951 £266.67 9.09%
1952 £291.11 9.17%
1953 £300.00 3.05%
1954 £305.93 1.98%
1955 £319.26 4.36%
1956 £335.56 5.10%
1957 £347.41 3.53%
1958 £358.52 3.20%
1959 £360.00 0.41%
1960 £363.70 1.03%
1961 £376.30 3.46%
1962 £392.59 4.33%
1963 £400.00 1.89%
1964 £413.33 3.33%
1965 £432.59 4.66%
1966 £449.63 3.94%
1967 £461.48 2.64%
1968 £482.96 4.65%
1969 £508.89 5.37%
1970 £541.48 6.40%
1971 £592.59 9.44%
1972 £634.81 7.13%
1973 £692.59 9.10%
1974 £803.70 16.04%
1975 £998.52 24.24%
1976 £1,163.70 16.54%
1977 £1,348.15 15.85%
1978 £1,460.00 8.30%
1979 £1,655.56 13.39%
1980 £1,953.33 17.99%
1981 £2,185.19 11.87%
1982 £2,373.33 8.61%
1983 £2,482.22 4.59%
1984 £2,605.93 4.98%
1985 £2,764.44 6.08%
1986 £2,858.52 3.40%
1987 £2,977.78 4.17%
1988 £3,123.70 4.90%
1989 £3,366.67 7.78%
1990 £3,685.19 9.46%
1991 £3,901.48 5.87%
1992 £4,047.41 3.74%
1993 £4,111.85 1.59%
1994 £4,211.11 2.41%
1995 £4,357.04 3.47%
1996 £4,462.22 2.41%
1997 £4,602.22 3.14%
1998 £4,760.00 3.43%
1999 £4,833.33 1.54%
2000 £4,976.30 2.96%
2001 £5,064.44 1.77%
2002 £5,148.89 1.67%
2003 £5,297.78 2.89%
2004 £5,455.56 2.98%
2005 £5,609.63 2.82%
2006 £5,788.89 3.20%
2007 £6,037.04 4.29%
2008 £6,277.78 3.99%
2009 £6,244.44 -0.53%
2010 £6,532.59 4.61%
2011 £6,872.59 5.20%
2012 £7,093.33 3.21%
2013 £7,308.89 3.04%
2014 £7,481.48 2.36%
2015 £7,555.56 0.99%
2016 £7,686.67 1.74%
2017 £7,962.22 3.58%
2018 £8,177.20 2.70%
2019 £8,381.63 2.50%
2020 £8,532.50 1.80%
2021 £8,745.10 2.49%
2022 £9,899.46 13.20%*

* Compared to previous annual rate. Not final. See inflation summary for latest 12-month trailing value.

Click to show 216 more rows

This conversion table shows various other 1800 amounts in today's pounds, based on the 9,799.46% change in prices:

Conversion: 1800 pounds today

Initial valueEquivalent value
£1 pound in 1800 £98.99 pounds today
£5 pounds in 1800 £494.97 pounds today
£10 pounds in 1800 £989.95 pounds today
£50 pounds in 1800 £4,949.73 pounds today
£100 pounds in 1800 £9,899.46 pounds today
£500 pounds in 1800 £49,497.28 pounds today
£1,000 pounds in 1800 £98,994.57 pounds today
£5,000 pounds in 1800 £494,972.84 pounds today
£10,000 pounds in 1800 £989,945.68 pounds today
£50,000 pounds in 1800 £4,949,728.40 pounds today
£100,000 pounds in 1800 £9,899,456.81 pounds today
£500,000 pounds in 1800 £49,497,284.03 pounds today
£1,000,000 pounds in 1800 £98,994,568.06 pounds today


How to calculate inflation rate for £100 since 1800

Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1800 and today:

CPI today CPI in 1800

×

1800 GBP value

=

Today's value

Then plug in historical CPI values. The U.K. CPI was 13.5 in the year 1800 and 1336.4266687599998 in 2022:

1336.426668759999813.5

×

£100

=

£9,899.46

£100 in 1800 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as £9,899.46 in 2022.

To get the total inflation rate for the 222 years between 1800 and 2022, we use the following formula:

CPI in 2022 - CPI in 1800CPI in 1800

×

100

=

Cumulative inflation rate (222 years)

Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:

1336.4266687599998 - 13.513.5

×

100

=

9,799%


Data source & citation

Raw data for these calculations comes from the composite price index published by the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS). A composite index is created by combining price data from several different published sources, both official and unofficial. The Consumer Price Index, normally used to compute inflation, has only been tracked since 1988. All inflation calculations after 1988 use the Office for National Statistics' Consumer Price Index, except for 2017, which is based on The Bank of England's forecast.

You may use the following MLA citation for this page: “Value of 1800 British pounds today | UK Inflation Calculator.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 13 Dec. 2022, https://www.officialdata.org/uk/inflation/1800.

Special thanks to QuickChart for their chart image API, which is used for chart downloads.

in2013dollars.com is a reference website maintained by the Official Data Foundation.


What was a pound worth in 1800 UK?

About the author

Ian Webster is an engineer and data expert based in San Mateo, California. He has worked for Google, NASA, and consulted for governments around the world on data pipelines and data analysis. Disappointed by the lack of clear resources on the impacts of inflation on economic indicators, Ian believes this website serves as a valuable public tool. Ian earned his degree in Computer Science from Dartmouth College.

Email · LinkedIn · Twitter


How much was 10 pounds in the 1800s?

Value of £10 from 1800 to 2022 £10 in 1800 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £989.95 today, an increase of £979.95 over 222 years. The pound had an average inflation rate of 2.09% per year between 1800 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 9,799.46%.

What was 1 pound worth in 1850?

£1 in 1850 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £127.96 in 2017, an increase of £126.96 over 167 years. The pound had an average inflation rate of 2.95% per year between 1850 and 2017, producing a cumulative price increase of 12,696.43%.

How much was 30 pounds worth in 1800?

Value of £30 from 1800 to 2022 £30 in 1800 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £2,969.84 today, an increase of £2,939.84 over 222 years.

How much was 25 pounds worth in the 1800s?

£25 in 1800 is worth £1,921.67 in 2016 £25 in 1800 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £1,921.67 in 2016, an increase of £1,896.67 over 216 years. The pound had an average inflation rate of 2.03% per year between 1800 and 2016, producing a cumulative price increase of 7,586.67%.