£1 in 1855 is worth £98.83 in 2016

Value of £1 from 1855 to 2016

£1 in 1855 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £98.83 in 2016, an increase of £97.83 over 161 years. The pound had an average inflation rate of 2.89% per year between 1855 and 2016, producing a cumulative price increase of 9,782.86%.

This means that prices in 2016 are 98.83 times as high as average prices since 1855, according to the Office for National Statistics composite price index.

The inflation rate in 1855 was 2.94%. The inflation rate in 2016 was 1.74%. The 2016 inflation rate is lower compared to the average inflation rate of 3.97% per year between 2016 and 2024.


Inflation from 1855 to 2016
Cumulative price change9,782.86%
Average inflation rate2.89%
Converted amount
£1 base
£98.83
Price difference
£1 base
£97.83
CPI in 185510.500
CPI in 20161,037.700
Inflation in 18552.94%
Inflation in 20161.74%
£1 in 1855£98.83 in 2016

GBP inflation since 1855
Annual Rate, the Office for National Statistics CPI
Download

Buying power of £1 in 1855

This chart shows a calculation of buying power equivalence for £1 in 1855 (price index tracking began in 1750).

For example, if you started with £1, you would need to end with £98.83 in order to "adjust" for inflation (sometimes refered to as "beating inflation").

When £1 is equivalent to £98.83 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 1855 dollars, the chart below shows how £1 is worth less over 161 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: 1855-2016
YearPound ValueInflation Rate
1855£1.002.94%
1856£1.000.00%
1857£0.95-4.76%
1858£0.87-9.00%
1859£0.86-1.10%
1860£0.893.33%
1861£0.902.15%
1862£0.89-2.11%
1863£0.86-3.23%
1864£0.85-1.11%
1865£0.861.12%
1866£0.905.56%
1867£0.966.32%
1868£0.95-0.99%
1869£0.90-5.00%
1870£0.900.00%
1871£0.911.05%
1872£0.954.17%
1873£0.994.00%
1874£0.95-3.85%
1875£0.93-2.00%
1876£0.930.00%
1877£0.92-1.02%
1878£0.90-2.06%
1879£0.87-4.21%
1880£0.903.30%
1881£0.89-1.06%
1882£0.901.08%
1883£0.89-1.06%
1884£0.87-2.15%
1885£0.84-3.30%
1886£0.83-1.14%
1887£0.82-1.15%
1888£0.831.16%
1889£0.841.15%
1890£0.840.00%
1891£0.851.14%
1892£0.850.00%
1893£0.84-1.12%
1894£0.83-1.14%
1895£0.82-1.15%
1896£0.81-1.16%
1897£0.832.35%
1898£0.830.00%
1899£0.841.15%
1900£0.884.55%
1901£0.880.00%
1902£0.880.00%
1903£0.891.09%
1904£0.890.00%
1905£0.890.00%
1906£0.890.00%
1907£0.901.08%
1908£0.900.00%
1909£0.901.06%
1910£0.911.05%
1911£0.910.00%
1912£0.943.13%
1913£0.93-1.01%
1914£0.930.00%
1915£1.0512.24%
1916£1.2418.18%
1917£1.5525.38%
1918£1.9022.09%
1919£2.0910.05%
1920£2.4115.53%
1921£2.20-8.70%
1922£1.90-13.85%
1923£1.78-6.03%
1924£1.77-0.53%
1925£1.770.00%
1926£1.76-0.54%
1927£1.71-2.70%
1928£1.710.00%
1929£1.70-1.11%
1930£1.65-2.81%
1931£1.58-4.05%
1932£1.54-2.41%
1933£1.50-2.47%
1934£1.500.00%
1935£1.510.63%
1936£1.520.63%
1937£1.583.75%
1938£1.601.20%
1939£1.652.98%
1940£1.9216.76%
1941£2.1310.89%
1942£2.297.14%
1943£2.363.33%
1944£2.432.82%
1945£2.502.75%
1946£2.573.05%
1947£2.757.04%
1948£2.967.61%
1949£3.052.89%
1950£3.143.13%
1951£3.439.09%
1952£3.749.17%
1953£3.863.05%
1954£3.931.98%
1955£4.104.36%
1956£4.315.10%
1957£4.473.53%
1958£4.613.20%
1959£4.630.41%
1960£4.681.03%
1961£4.843.46%
1962£5.054.33%
1963£5.141.89%
1964£5.313.33%
1965£5.564.66%
1966£5.783.94%
1967£5.932.64%
1968£6.214.65%
1969£6.545.37%
1970£6.966.40%
1971£7.629.44%
1972£8.167.13%
1973£8.909.10%
1974£10.3316.04%
1975£12.8424.24%
1976£14.9616.54%
1977£17.3315.85%
1978£18.778.30%
1979£21.2913.39%
1980£25.1117.99%
1981£28.1011.87%
1982£30.518.61%
1983£31.914.59%
1984£33.504.98%
1985£35.546.08%
1986£36.753.40%
1987£38.294.17%
1988£40.164.90%
1989£43.297.78%
1990£47.389.46%
1991£50.165.87%
1992£52.043.74%
1993£52.871.59%
1994£54.142.41%
1995£56.023.47%
1996£57.372.41%
1997£59.173.14%
1998£61.203.43%
1999£62.141.54%
2000£63.982.96%
2001£65.111.77%
2002£66.201.67%
2003£68.112.89%
2004£70.142.98%
2005£72.122.82%
2006£74.433.20%
2007£77.624.29%
2008£80.713.99%
2009£80.29-0.53%
2010£83.994.61%
2011£88.365.20%
2012£91.203.21%
2013£93.973.04%
2014£96.192.36%
2015£97.140.99%
2016£98.831.74%
2017£102.373.58%
2018£105.142.70%
2019£107.762.50%
2020£109.701.80%
2021£112.442.49%
2022£121.327.90%
2023£129.907.07%
2024£134.973.90%*
* Compared to previous annual rate. Not final. See inflation summary for latest 12-month trailing value.
Click to show 155 more rows

This conversion table shows various other 1855 amounts in 2016 pounds, based on the 9,782.86% change in prices:

Conversion: 1855 pounds in 2016
Initial valueEquivalent value
£1 pound in 1855£98.83 pounds in 2016
£5 pounds in 1855£494.14 pounds in 2016
£10 pounds in 1855£988.29 pounds in 2016
£50 pounds in 1855£4,941.43 pounds in 2016
£100 pounds in 1855£9,882.86 pounds in 2016
£500 pounds in 1855£49,414.29 pounds in 2016
£1,000 pounds in 1855£98,828.57 pounds in 2016
£5,000 pounds in 1855£494,142.86 pounds in 2016
£10,000 pounds in 1855£988,285.71 pounds in 2016
£50,000 pounds in 1855£4,941,428.57 pounds in 2016
£100,000 pounds in 1855£9,882,857.14 pounds in 2016
£500,000 pounds in 1855£49,414,285.71 pounds in 2016
£1,000,000 pounds in 1855£98,828,571.43 pounds in 2016

How to calculate inflation rate for £1, 1855 to 2016

Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1855 and 2016:

CPI in 2016 CPI in 1855
×
1855 GBP value
=
2016 GBP value

Then plug in historical CPI values. The U.K. CPI was 10.5 in the year 1855 and 1037.7 in 2016:

1037.710.5
×
£1
=
£98.83

£1 in 1855 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as £98.83 in 2016.

To get the total inflation rate for the 161 years between 1855 and 2016, we use the following formula:

CPI in 2016 - CPI in 1855CPI in 1855
×
100
=
Cumulative inflation rate (161 years)

Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:

1037.7 - 10.510.5
×
100
=
9,783%

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 1855 → 2016 | UK Inflation Calculator.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 28 Mar. 2024, https://www.officialdata.org/uk/inflation/1855?amount=1&endYear=2016.

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 1855 to 2016
Cumulative price change9,782.86%
Average inflation rate2.89%
Converted amount
£1 base
£98.83
Price difference
£1 base
£97.83
CPI in 185510.500
CPI in 20161,037.700
Inflation in 18552.94%
Inflation in 20161.74%
£1 in 1855£98.83 in 2016