Why a pound today is worth only 1% of a pound in 1808
Updated: September 11, 2020According to the Office for National Statistics composite price index, today's prices in 2020 are 8,792.53% higher than average prices since 1808. This means that a pound today only buys 1.12% of what it could buy in 1808. The British pound experienced an average inflation rate of 2.14% per year during this period, causing the real value of a pound to decrease.
In other words, £100 in 1808 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £8,892.53 in 2020, a difference of £8,792.53 over 212 years.
The 1808 inflation rate was 4.07%. The current year-over-year inflation rate (2019 to 2020) is now 1.50%1. If this number holds, £100 today will be equivalent in buying power to £101.50 next year.
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| Cumulative price change | 8,792.53% |
| Average inflation rate | 2.14% |
| Converted amount (£100 base) | £8,892.53 |
| Price difference (£100 base) | £8,792.53 |
| CPI in 1808 | 12.800 |
| CPI in 2020 | 1,138.243 |
| Inflation in 1808 | 4.07% |
| Inflation in 2020 | 1.50% |
Buying power of £100 in 1808
This chart shows a calculation of buying power equivalence for £100 in 1808 (price index tracking began in 1750).
For example, if you started with £100, you would need to end with £8,892.53 in order to "adjust" for inflation (sometimes refered to as "beating inflation").
When £100 is equivalent to £8,892.53 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 1808 dollars, the chart below shows how £100 is worth less over 212 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 1808 amounts in today's pounds, based on the 8,792.53% change in prices:
| Initial value | Equivalent value |
|---|---|
| £1 pound in 1808 | £88.93 pounds today |
| £5 pounds in 1808 | £444.63 pounds today |
| £10 pounds in 1808 | £889.25 pounds today |
| £50 pounds in 1808 | £4,446.26 pounds today |
| £100 pounds in 1808 | £8,892.53 pounds today |
| £500 pounds in 1808 | £44,462.63 pounds today |
| £1,000 pounds in 1808 | £88,925.26 pounds today |
| £5,000 pounds in 1808 | £444,626.31 pounds today |
| £10,000 pounds in 1808 | £889,252.63 pounds today |
| £50,000 pounds in 1808 | £4,446,263.13 pounds today |
| £100,000 pounds in 1808 | £8,892,526.26 pounds today |
| £500,000 pounds in 1808 | £44,462,631.28 pounds today |
| £1,000,000 pounds in 1808 | £88,925,262.56 pounds today |
How to Calculate Inflation Rate for £100 since 1808
Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1808 and today:
CPI today
CPI in 1808
×
1808 GBP value
=
Today's value
Then plug in historical CPI values. The U.K. CPI was 12.8 in the year 1808 and 1138.2433607545 in 2020:
1138.243360754512.8
×
£100
=
£8,892.53
£100 in 1808 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as £8,892.53 in 2020.
To get the total inflation rate for the 212 years between 1808 and 2020, we use the following formula:
CPI in 2020 - CPI in 1808CPI in 1808
×
100
=
Cumulative inflation rate (212 years)
Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:
1138.2433607545 - 12.812.8
×
100
=
8,793%
News headlines from 1808
Politics and news often influence economic performance. Here's what was happening at the time:
- African Benefolnt Society is formed.
- The US Congress prohibits the importing of slaves.
- Herman Daendels becomes the Governor General of the Dutch East Indies.
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 1808 pounds today | UK Inflation Calculator.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 20 Sep. 2020, https://www.officialdata.org/uk/inflation/1808.
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 | 8,792.53% |
| Average inflation rate | 2.14% |
| Converted amount (£100 base) | £8,892.53 |
| Price difference (£100 base) | £8,792.53 |
| CPI in 1808 | 12.800 |
| CPI in 2020 | 1,138.243 |
| Inflation in 1808 | 4.07% |
| Inflation in 2020 | 1.50% |