£1 in 1790 is worth £1 in 1788

Value of £1 from 1790 to 1788

£1 in 1790 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £1 in 1788, an increase of £0.00 over 2 years. The pound had an average inflation rate of 0.00% per year between 1788 and 1790, producing a cumulative price increase of 0.00%.

The inflation rate in 1788 was 4.17%. The inflation rate in 1790 was 1.35%. The 1790 inflation rate is lower compared to the average inflation rate of 2.27% per year between 1790 and 2024.


Inflation from 1790 to 1788
Average inflation rate0.00%
Converted amount
£1 base
£1
Price difference
£1 base
£0.00
CPI in 17907.500
CPI in 17887.500
Inflation in 17884.17%
Inflation in 17901.35%
£1 in 1790£1 in 1788

Recent GBP inflation
Annual Rate, the Office for National Statistics CPI
Download

Buying power of £1 in 1788

This chart shows a calculation of buying power equivalence for £1 in 1788 (price index tracking began in 1750).

For example, if you started with £1, you would need to end with £1 in order to "adjust" for inflation (sometimes refered to as "beating inflation").

When £1 is equivalent to £1 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 1788 dollars, the chart below shows how £1 is worth less over 2 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: 1788-1790
YearPound ValueInflation Rate
1788£1.004.17%
1789£0.99-1.33%
1790£1.001.35%
1791£1.000.00%
1792£1.011.33%
1793£1.042.63%
1794£1.138.97%
1795£1.2510.59%
1796£1.336.38%
1797£1.20-10.00%
1798£1.17-2.22%
1799£1.3212.50%
1800£1.8036.36%
1801£2.0111.85%
1802£1.55-23.18%
1803£1.47-5.17%
1804£1.512.73%
1805£1.7515.93%
1806£1.68-3.82%
1807£1.64-2.38%
1808£1.714.07%
1809£1.879.37%
1810£1.922.86%
1811£1.87-2.78%
1812£2.1213.57%
1813£2.172.52%
1814£1.89-12.88%
1815£1.69-10.56%
1816£1.55-8.66%
1817£1.7613.79%
1818£1.760.00%
1819£1.72-2.27%
1820£1.56-9.30%
1821£1.37-11.97%
1822£1.19-13.59%
1823£1.276.74%
1824£1.378.42%
1825£1.6117.48%
1826£1.52-5.79%
1827£1.43-6.14%
1828£1.39-2.80%
1829£1.37-0.96%
1830£1.32-3.88%
1831£1.4510.10%
1832£1.35-7.34%
1833£1.27-5.94%
1834£1.16-8.42%
1835£1.192.30%
1836£1.3211.24%
1837£1.352.02%
1838£1.360.99%
1839£1.456.86%
1840£1.481.83%
1841£1.45-1.80%
1842£1.33-8.26%
1843£1.19-11.00%
1844£1.190.00%
1845£1.244.49%
1846£1.294.30%
1847£1.4512.37%
1848£1.27-12.84%
1849£1.19-6.32%
1850£1.12-5.62%
1851£1.08-3.57%
1852£1.080.00%
1853£1.199.88%
1854£1.3614.61%
1855£1.402.94%
1856£1.400.00%
1857£1.33-4.76%
1858£1.21-9.00%
1859£1.20-1.10%
1860£1.243.33%
1861£1.272.15%
1862£1.24-2.11%
1863£1.20-3.23%
1864£1.19-1.11%
1865£1.201.12%
1866£1.275.56%
1867£1.356.32%
1868£1.33-0.99%
1869£1.27-5.00%
1870£1.270.00%
1871£1.281.05%
1872£1.334.17%
1873£1.394.00%
1874£1.33-3.85%
1875£1.31-2.00%
1876£1.310.00%
1877£1.29-1.02%
1878£1.27-2.06%
1879£1.21-4.21%
1880£1.253.30%
1881£1.24-1.06%
1882£1.251.08%
1883£1.24-1.06%
1884£1.21-2.15%
1885£1.17-3.30%
1886£1.16-1.14%
1887£1.15-1.15%
1888£1.161.16%
1889£1.171.15%
1890£1.170.00%
1891£1.191.14%
1892£1.190.00%
1893£1.17-1.12%
1894£1.16-1.14%
1895£1.15-1.15%
1896£1.13-1.16%
1897£1.162.35%
1898£1.160.00%
1899£1.171.15%
1900£1.234.55%
1901£1.230.00%
1902£1.230.00%
1903£1.241.09%
1904£1.240.00%
1905£1.240.00%
1906£1.240.00%
1907£1.251.08%
1908£1.250.00%
1909£1.271.06%
1910£1.281.05%
1911£1.280.00%
1912£1.323.13%
1913£1.31-1.01%
1914£1.310.00%
1915£1.4712.24%
1916£1.7318.18%
1917£2.1725.38%
1918£2.6522.09%
1919£2.9210.05%
1920£3.3715.53%
1921£3.08-8.70%
1922£2.65-13.85%
1923£2.49-6.03%
1924£2.48-0.53%
1925£2.480.00%
1926£2.47-0.54%
1927£2.40-2.70%
1928£2.400.00%
1929£2.37-1.11%
1930£2.31-2.81%
1931£2.21-4.05%
1932£2.16-2.41%
1933£2.11-2.47%
1934£2.110.00%
1935£2.120.63%
1936£2.130.63%
1937£2.213.75%
1938£2.241.20%
1939£2.312.98%
1940£2.6916.76%
1941£2.9910.89%
1942£3.207.14%
1943£3.313.33%
1944£3.402.82%
1945£3.492.75%
1946£3.603.05%
1947£3.857.04%
1948£4.157.61%
1949£4.272.89%
1950£4.403.13%
1951£4.809.09%
1952£5.249.17%
1953£5.403.05%
1954£5.511.98%
1955£5.754.36%
1956£6.045.10%
1957£6.253.53%
1958£6.453.20%
1959£6.480.41%
1960£6.551.03%
1961£6.773.46%
1962£7.074.33%
1963£7.201.89%
1964£7.443.33%
1965£7.794.66%
1966£8.093.94%
1967£8.312.64%
1968£8.694.65%
1969£9.165.37%
1970£9.756.40%
1971£10.679.44%
1972£11.437.13%
1973£12.479.10%
1974£14.4716.04%
1975£17.9724.24%
1976£20.9516.54%
1977£24.2715.85%
1978£26.288.30%
1979£29.8013.39%
1980£35.1617.99%
1981£39.3311.87%
1982£42.728.61%
1983£44.684.59%
1984£46.914.98%
1985£49.766.08%
1986£51.453.40%
1987£53.604.17%
1988£56.234.90%
1989£60.607.78%
1990£66.339.46%
1991£70.235.87%
1992£72.853.74%
1993£74.011.59%
1994£75.802.41%
1995£78.433.47%
1996£80.322.41%
1997£82.843.14%
1998£85.683.43%
1999£87.001.54%
2000£89.572.96%
2001£91.161.77%
2002£92.681.67%
2003£95.362.89%
2004£98.202.98%
2005£100.972.82%
2006£104.203.20%
2007£108.674.29%
2008£113.003.99%
2009£112.40-0.53%
2010£117.594.61%
2011£123.715.20%
2012£127.683.21%
2013£131.563.04%
2014£134.672.36%
2015£136.000.99%
2016£138.361.74%
2017£143.323.58%
2018£147.192.70%
2019£150.872.50%
2020£153.591.80%
2021£157.412.49%
2022£169.857.90%
2023£181.867.07%
2024£188.953.90%*
* Compared to previous annual rate. Not final. See inflation summary for latest 12-month trailing value.

This conversion table shows various other 1788 amounts in 1790 pounds, based on the 0.00% change in prices:

Conversion: 1788 pounds in 1790
Initial valueEquivalent value
£1 pound in 1788£1.00 pounds in 1790
£5 pounds in 1788£5.00 pounds in 1790
£10 pounds in 1788£10.00 pounds in 1790
£50 pounds in 1788£50.00 pounds in 1790
£100 pounds in 1788£100.00 pounds in 1790
£500 pounds in 1788£500.00 pounds in 1790
£1,000 pounds in 1788£1,000.00 pounds in 1790
£5,000 pounds in 1788£5,000.00 pounds in 1790
£10,000 pounds in 1788£10,000.00 pounds in 1790
£50,000 pounds in 1788£50,000.00 pounds in 1790
£100,000 pounds in 1788£100,000.00 pounds in 1790
£500,000 pounds in 1788£500,000.00 pounds in 1790
£1,000,000 pounds in 1788£1,000,000.00 pounds in 1790

How to calculate inflation rate for £1, 1788 to 1790

Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1788 and 1790:

CPI in 1788 CPI in 1790
×
1790 GBP value
=
1788 GBP value

Then plug in historical CPI values. The U.K. CPI was 7.5 in the year 1790 and 7.5 in 1788:

7.57.5
×
£1
=
£1

£1 in 1790 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as £1 in 1788.

To get the total inflation rate for the 2 years between 1788 and 1790, we use the following formula:

CPI in 1788 - CPI in 1790CPI in 1790
×
100
=
Cumulative inflation rate (2 years)

Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:

7.5 - 7.57.5
×
100
=
0%

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 the current year, which is based on The Bank of England's forecast.

You may use the following MLA citation for this page: “£1 in 1790 → 1788 | UK Inflation Calculator.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 28 Mar. 2024, https://www.officialdata.org/1790-GBP-in-1788?amount=1.

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.


Ian Webster

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.

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» Read more about inflation and investment.

Inflation from 1790 to 1788
Average inflation rate0.00%
Converted amount
£1 base
£1
Price difference
£1 base
£0.00
CPI in 17907.500
CPI in 17887.500
Inflation in 17884.17%
Inflation in 17901.35%
£1 in 1790£1 in 1788