£3 in 1871 is worth £359.96 in 2020

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Value of £3 from 1871 to 2020

£3 in 1871 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £359.96 in 2020, an increase of £356.96 over 149 years. The pound had an average inflation rate of 3.27% per year between 1871 and 2020, producing a cumulative price increase of 11,898.83%.

This means that prices in 2020 are 119.99 times as high as average prices since 1871, according to the Office for National Statistics composite price index.

The inflation rate in 1871 was 1.05%. The inflation rate in 2020 was 1.80%. The 2020 inflation rate is lower compared to the average inflation rate of 5.32% per year between 2020 and 2024.


Inflation from 1871 to 2020
Cumulative price change11,898.83%
Average inflation rate3.27%
Converted amount
£3 base
£359.96
Price difference
£3 base
£356.96
CPI in 18719.600
CPI in 20201,151.888
Inflation in 18711.05%
Inflation in 20201.80%
£3 in 1871£359.96 in 2020

GBP inflation since 1871
Annual Rate, the Office for National Statistics CPI
Download

Buying power of £3 in 1871

This chart shows a calculation of buying power equivalence for £3 in 1871 (price index tracking began in 1750).

For example, if you started with £3, you would need to end with £359.96 in order to "adjust" for inflation (sometimes refered to as "beating inflation").

When £3 is equivalent to £359.96 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 1871 dollars, the chart below shows how £3 is worth less over 149 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: 1871-2020
YearPound ValueInflation Rate
1871£3.001.05%
1872£3.134.17%
1873£3.254.00%
1874£3.13-3.85%
1875£3.06-2.00%
1876£3.060.00%
1877£3.03-1.02%
1878£2.97-2.06%
1879£2.84-4.21%
1880£2.943.30%
1881£2.91-1.06%
1882£2.941.08%
1883£2.91-1.06%
1884£2.84-2.15%
1885£2.75-3.30%
1886£2.72-1.14%
1887£2.69-1.15%
1888£2.721.16%
1889£2.751.15%
1890£2.750.00%
1891£2.781.14%
1892£2.780.00%
1893£2.75-1.12%
1894£2.72-1.14%
1895£2.69-1.15%
1896£2.66-1.16%
1897£2.722.35%
1898£2.720.00%
1899£2.751.15%
1900£2.884.55%
1901£2.880.00%
1902£2.880.00%
1903£2.911.09%
1904£2.910.00%
1905£2.910.00%
1906£2.910.00%
1907£2.941.08%
1908£2.940.00%
1909£2.971.06%
1910£3.001.05%
1911£3.000.00%
1912£3.093.13%
1913£3.06-1.01%
1914£3.060.00%
1915£3.4412.24%
1916£4.0618.18%
1917£5.0925.38%
1918£6.2222.09%
1919£6.8410.05%
1920£7.9115.53%
1921£7.22-8.70%
1922£6.22-13.85%
1923£5.84-6.03%
1924£5.81-0.53%
1925£5.810.00%
1926£5.78-0.54%
1927£5.63-2.70%
1928£5.630.00%
1929£5.56-1.11%
1930£5.41-2.81%
1931£5.19-4.05%
1932£5.06-2.41%
1933£4.94-2.47%
1934£4.940.00%
1935£4.970.63%
1936£5.000.63%
1937£5.193.75%
1938£5.251.20%
1939£5.412.98%
1940£6.3116.76%
1941£7.0010.89%
1942£7.507.14%
1943£7.753.33%
1944£7.972.82%
1945£8.192.75%
1946£8.443.05%
1947£9.037.04%
1948£9.727.61%
1949£10.002.89%
1950£10.313.13%
1951£11.259.09%
1952£12.289.17%
1953£12.663.05%
1954£12.911.98%
1955£13.474.36%
1956£14.165.10%
1957£14.663.53%
1958£15.133.20%
1959£15.190.41%
1960£15.341.03%
1961£15.883.46%
1962£16.564.33%
1963£16.881.89%
1964£17.443.33%
1965£18.254.66%
1966£18.973.94%
1967£19.472.64%
1968£20.384.65%
1969£21.475.37%
1970£22.846.40%
1971£25.009.44%
1972£26.787.13%
1973£29.229.10%
1974£33.9116.04%
1975£42.1324.24%
1976£49.0916.54%
1977£56.8815.85%
1978£61.598.30%
1979£69.8413.39%
1980£82.4117.99%
1981£92.1911.87%
1982£100.138.61%
1983£104.724.59%
1984£109.944.98%
1985£116.636.08%
1986£120.593.40%
1987£125.634.17%
1988£131.784.90%
1989£142.037.78%
1990£155.479.46%
1991£164.595.87%
1992£170.753.74%
1993£173.471.59%
1994£177.662.41%
1995£183.813.47%
1996£188.252.41%
1997£194.163.14%
1998£200.813.43%
1999£203.911.54%
2000£209.942.96%
2001£213.661.77%
2002£217.221.67%
2003£223.502.89%
2004£230.162.98%
2005£236.662.82%
2006£244.223.20%
2007£254.694.29%
2008£264.843.99%
2009£263.44-0.53%
2010£275.594.61%
2011£289.945.20%
2012£299.253.21%
2013£308.343.04%
2014£315.632.36%
2015£318.750.99%
2016£324.281.74%
2017£335.913.58%
2018£344.982.70%
2019£353.602.50%
2020£359.961.80%
2021£368.932.49%
2022£398.087.90%
2023£426.237.07%
2024£442.863.90%*
* Compared to previous annual rate. Not final. See inflation summary for latest 12-month trailing value.
Click to show 143 more rows

This conversion table shows various other 1871 amounts in 2020 pounds, based on the 11,898.83% change in prices:

Conversion: 1871 pounds in 2020
Initial valueEquivalent value
£1 pound in 1871£119.99 pounds in 2020
£5 pounds in 1871£599.94 pounds in 2020
£10 pounds in 1871£1,199.88 pounds in 2020
£50 pounds in 1871£5,999.42 pounds in 2020
£100 pounds in 1871£11,998.83 pounds in 2020
£500 pounds in 1871£59,994.15 pounds in 2020
£1,000 pounds in 1871£119,988.30 pounds in 2020
£5,000 pounds in 1871£599,941.52 pounds in 2020
£10,000 pounds in 1871£1,199,883.05 pounds in 2020
£50,000 pounds in 1871£5,999,415.23 pounds in 2020
£100,000 pounds in 1871£11,998,830.46 pounds in 2020
£500,000 pounds in 1871£59,994,152.29 pounds in 2020
£1,000,000 pounds in 1871£119,988,304.58 pounds in 2020

How to calculate inflation rate for £3, 1871 to 2020

Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1871 and 2020:

CPI in 2020 CPI in 1871
×
1871 GBP value
=
2020 GBP value

Then plug in historical CPI values. The U.K. CPI was 9.6 in the year 1871 and 1151.88772393 in 2020:

1151.887723939.6
×
£3
=
£359.96

£3 in 1871 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as £359.96 in 2020.

To get the total inflation rate for the 149 years between 1871 and 2020, we use the following formula:

CPI in 2020 - CPI in 1871CPI in 1871
×
100
=
Cumulative inflation rate (149 years)

Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:

1151.88772393 - 9.69.6
×
100
=
11,899%

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: “£3 in 1871 → 2020 | UK Inflation Calculator.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 14 Oct. 2024, https://www.officialdata.org/uk/inflation/1871?endYear=2020&amount=3.

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 1871 to 2020
Cumulative price change11,898.83%
Average inflation rate3.27%
Converted amount
£3 base
£359.96
Price difference
£3 base
£356.96
CPI in 18719.600
CPI in 20201,151.888
Inflation in 18711.05%
Inflation in 20201.80%
£3 in 1871£359.96 in 2020