Why a pound today is worth only 1.0% of a pound in 1804
Updated: April 13, 2021£100 in 1804 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £10,265.05 today, an increase of £10,165.05 over 217 years. The pound had an average inflation rate of 2.16% per year between 1804 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 10,165.05%.
This means that today's prices are 102.65 times higher than average prices since 1804, according to the Office for National Statistics composite price index. A pound today only buys 0.97% of what it could buy back then.
The 1804 inflation rate was 2.73%. The current year-over-year inflation rate (2020 to 2021) is now 0.70%1. If this number holds, £100 today will be equivalent in buying power to £100.70 next year.
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| Cumulative price change | 10,165.05% |
| Average inflation rate | 2.16% |
| Converted amount (£100 base) | £10,265.05 |
| Price difference (£100 base) | £10,165.05 |
| CPI in 1804 | 11.300 |
| CPI in 2021 | 1,159.951 |
| Inflation in 1804 | 2.73% |
| Inflation in 2021 | 0.70% |
| £100 in 1804 | £10,265.05 in 2021 |
Buying power of £100 in 1804
This chart shows a calculation of buying power equivalence for £100 in 1804 (price index tracking began in 1750).
For example, if you started with £100, you would need to end with £10,265.05 in order to "adjust" for inflation (sometimes refered to as "beating inflation").
When £100 is equivalent to £10,265.05 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 1804 dollars, the chart below shows how £100 is worth less over 217 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:
This conversion table shows various other 1804 amounts in today's pounds, based on the 10,165.05% change in prices:
| Initial value | Equivalent value |
|---|---|
| £1 pound in 1804 | £102.65 pounds today |
| £5 pounds in 1804 | £513.25 pounds today |
| £10 pounds in 1804 | £1,026.51 pounds today |
| £50 pounds in 1804 | £5,132.53 pounds today |
| £100 pounds in 1804 | £10,265.05 pounds today |
| £500 pounds in 1804 | £51,325.26 pounds today |
| £1,000 pounds in 1804 | £102,650.53 pounds today |
| £5,000 pounds in 1804 | £513,252.63 pounds today |
| £10,000 pounds in 1804 | £1,026,505.25 pounds today |
| £50,000 pounds in 1804 | £5,132,526.27 pounds today |
| £100,000 pounds in 1804 | £10,265,052.55 pounds today |
| £500,000 pounds in 1804 | £51,325,262.74 pounds today |
| £1,000,000 pounds in 1804 | £102,650,525.49 pounds today |
How to Calculate Inflation Rate for £100 since 1804
Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1804 and today:
CPI today
CPI in 1804
×
1804 GBP value
=
Today's value
Then plug in historical CPI values. The U.K. CPI was 11.3 in the year 1804 and 1159.950938 in 2021:
1159.95093811.3
×
£100
=
£10,265.05
£100 in 1804 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as £10,265.05 in 2021.
To get the total inflation rate for the 217 years between 1804 and 2021, we use the following formula:
CPI in 2021 - CPI in 1804CPI in 1804
×
100
=
Cumulative inflation rate (217 years)
Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:
1159.950938 - 11.311.3
×
100
=
10,165%
News headlines from 1804
Politics and news often influence economic performance. Here's what was happening at the time:
- France adopts Napoleon’s Civil Code.
- The French Senate proclaims Napoleon Bonaparte Emperor of France
- Napoleon is crowned Emperor of France
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 1804 pounds today | UK Inflation Calculator.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 4 May. 2021, https://www.officialdata.org/uk/inflation/1804.
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.
| Cumulative price change | 10,165.05% |
| Average inflation rate | 2.16% |
| Converted amount (£100 base) | £10,265.05 |
| Price difference (£100 base) | £10,165.05 |
| CPI in 1804 | 11.300 |
| CPI in 2021 | 1,159.951 |
| Inflation in 1804 | 2.73% |
| Inflation in 2021 | 0.70% |
| £100 in 1804 | £10,265.05 in 2021 |