£1 in 1985 is worth £1.13 in 1988

Value of £1 from 1985 to 1988

£1 in 1985 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £1.13 in 1988, an increase of £0.13 over 3 years. The pound had an average inflation rate of 4.16% per year between 1985 and 1988, producing a cumulative price increase of 13.00%.

This means that prices in 1988 are 1.13 times as high as average prices since 1985, according to the Office for National Statistics composite price index.

The inflation rate in 1985 was 6.08%. The inflation rate in 1988 was 4.90%. The 1988 inflation rate is higher compared to the average inflation rate of 3.42% per year between 1988 and 2024.


Inflation from 1985 to 1988
Cumulative price change13.00%
Average inflation rate4.16%
Converted amount
£1 base
£1.13
Price difference
£1 base
£0.13
CPI in 1985373.200
CPI in 1988421.700
Inflation in 19856.08%
Inflation in 19884.90%
£1 in 1985£1.13 in 1988

Recent GBP inflation
Annual Rate, the Office for National Statistics CPI
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Buying power of £1 in 1985

This chart shows a calculation of buying power equivalence for £1 in 1985 (price index tracking began in 1750).

For example, if you started with £1, you would need to end with £1.13 in order to "adjust" for inflation (sometimes refered to as "beating inflation").

When £1 is equivalent to £1.13 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 1985 dollars, the chart below shows how £1 is worth less over 3 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: 1985-1988
YearPound ValueInflation Rate
1985£1.006.08%
1986£1.033.40%
1987£1.084.17%
1988£1.134.90%
1989£1.227.78%
1990£1.339.46%
1991£1.415.87%
1992£1.463.74%
1993£1.491.59%
1994£1.522.41%
1995£1.583.47%
1996£1.612.41%
1997£1.663.14%
1998£1.723.43%
1999£1.751.54%
2000£1.802.96%
2001£1.831.77%
2002£1.861.67%
2003£1.922.89%
2004£1.972.98%
2005£2.032.82%
2006£2.093.20%
2007£2.184.29%
2008£2.273.99%
2009£2.26-0.53%
2010£2.364.61%
2011£2.495.20%
2012£2.573.21%
2013£2.643.04%
2014£2.712.36%
2015£2.730.99%
2016£2.781.74%
2017£2.883.58%
2018£2.962.70%
2019£3.032.50%
2020£3.091.80%
2021£3.162.49%
2022£3.417.90%
2023£3.657.07%
2024£3.803.90%*
* Compared to previous annual rate. Not final. See inflation summary for latest 12-month trailing value.

This conversion table shows various other 1985 amounts in 1988 pounds, based on the 13.00% change in prices:

Conversion: 1985 pounds in 1988
Initial valueEquivalent value
£1 pound in 1985£1.13 pounds in 1988
£5 pounds in 1985£5.65 pounds in 1988
£10 pounds in 1985£11.30 pounds in 1988
£50 pounds in 1985£56.50 pounds in 1988
£100 pounds in 1985£113.00 pounds in 1988
£500 pounds in 1985£564.98 pounds in 1988
£1,000 pounds in 1985£1,129.96 pounds in 1988
£5,000 pounds in 1985£5,649.79 pounds in 1988
£10,000 pounds in 1985£11,299.57 pounds in 1988
£50,000 pounds in 1985£56,497.86 pounds in 1988
£100,000 pounds in 1985£112,995.71 pounds in 1988
£500,000 pounds in 1985£564,978.56 pounds in 1988
£1,000,000 pounds in 1985£1,129,957.13 pounds in 1988

How to calculate inflation rate for £1, 1985 to 1988

Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1985 and 1988:

CPI in 1988 CPI in 1985
×
1985 GBP value
=
1988 GBP value

Then plug in historical CPI values. The U.K. CPI was 373.2 in the year 1985 and 421.7 in 1988:

421.7373.2
×
£1
=
£1.13

£1 in 1985 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as £1.13 in 1988.

To get the total inflation rate for the 3 years between 1985 and 1988, we use the following formula:

CPI in 1988 - CPI in 1985CPI in 1985
×
100
=
Cumulative inflation rate (3 years)

Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:

421.7 - 373.2373.2
×
100
=
13%

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 1985 → 1988 | UK Inflation Calculator.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 28 Mar. 2024, https://www.officialdata.org/1985-GBP-in-1988?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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Inflation from 1985 to 1988
Cumulative price change13.00%
Average inflation rate4.16%
Converted amount
£1 base
£1.13
Price difference
£1 base
£0.13
CPI in 1985373.200
CPI in 1988421.700
Inflation in 19856.08%
Inflation in 19884.90%
£1 in 1985£1.13 in 1988