£1 in 1885 is worth £0.98 in 1887

Value of £1 from 1885 to 1887

£1 in 1885 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £0.98 in 1887, a difference of £-0.02 over 2 years. The pound had an average deflation rate of -1.14% per year since 1885, producing a cumulative price change of -2.27%.

This means that prices in 1887 are 2.27% lower than average prices since 1885, according to the Office for National Statistics composite price index.

The inflation rate in 1885 was -3.30%. The inflation rate in 1887 was -1.15%. The 1887 inflation rate is lower compared to the average inflation rate of 3.80% per year between 1887 and 2024.


Inflation from 1885 to 1887
Cumulative price change-2.27%
Average inflation rate-1.14%
Converted amount
£1 base
£0.98
Price difference
£1 base
£-0.02
CPI in 18858.800
CPI in 18878.600
Inflation in 1885-3.30%
Inflation in 1887-1.15%
£1 in 1885£0.98 in 1887

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

Buying power of £1 in 1885

This chart shows a calculation of buying power equivalence for £1 in 1885 (price index tracking began in 1750).

For example, if you started with £1, you would need to end with £0.98 in order to "adjust" for inflation (sometimes refered to as "beating inflation").

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: 1885-1887
YearPound ValueInflation Rate
1885£1.00-3.30%
1886£0.99-1.14%
1887£0.98-1.15%
1888£0.991.16%
1889£1.001.15%
1890£1.000.00%
1891£1.011.14%
1892£1.010.00%
1893£1.00-1.12%
1894£0.99-1.14%
1895£0.98-1.15%
1896£0.97-1.16%
1897£0.992.35%
1898£0.990.00%
1899£1.001.15%
1900£1.054.55%
1901£1.050.00%
1902£1.050.00%
1903£1.061.09%
1904£1.060.00%
1905£1.060.00%
1906£1.060.00%
1907£1.071.08%
1908£1.070.00%
1909£1.081.06%
1910£1.091.05%
1911£1.090.00%
1912£1.133.13%
1913£1.11-1.01%
1914£1.110.00%
1915£1.2512.24%
1916£1.4818.18%
1917£1.8525.38%
1918£2.2622.09%
1919£2.4910.05%
1920£2.8815.53%
1921£2.63-8.70%
1922£2.26-13.85%
1923£2.12-6.03%
1924£2.11-0.53%
1925£2.110.00%
1926£2.10-0.54%
1927£2.05-2.70%
1928£2.050.00%
1929£2.02-1.11%
1930£1.97-2.81%
1931£1.89-4.05%
1932£1.84-2.41%
1933£1.80-2.47%
1934£1.800.00%
1935£1.810.63%
1936£1.820.63%
1937£1.893.75%
1938£1.911.20%
1939£1.972.98%
1940£2.3016.76%
1941£2.5510.89%
1942£2.737.14%
1943£2.823.33%
1944£2.902.82%
1945£2.982.75%
1946£3.073.05%
1947£3.287.04%
1948£3.537.61%
1949£3.642.89%
1950£3.753.13%
1951£4.099.09%
1952£4.479.17%
1953£4.603.05%
1954£4.691.98%
1955£4.904.36%
1956£5.155.10%
1957£5.333.53%
1958£5.503.20%
1959£5.520.41%
1960£5.581.03%
1961£5.773.46%
1962£6.024.33%
1963£6.141.89%
1964£6.343.33%
1965£6.644.66%
1966£6.903.94%
1967£7.082.64%
1968£7.414.65%
1969£7.815.37%
1970£8.316.40%
1971£9.099.44%
1972£9.747.13%
1973£10.639.10%
1974£12.3316.04%
1975£15.3224.24%
1976£17.8516.54%
1977£20.6815.85%
1978£22.408.30%
1979£25.4013.39%
1980£29.9717.99%
1981£33.5211.87%
1982£36.418.61%
1983£38.084.59%
1984£39.984.98%
1985£42.416.08%
1986£43.853.40%
1987£45.684.17%
1988£47.924.90%
1989£51.657.78%
1990£56.539.46%
1991£59.855.87%
1992£62.093.74%
1993£63.081.59%
1994£64.602.41%
1995£66.843.47%
1996£68.452.41%
1997£70.603.14%
1998£73.023.43%
1999£74.151.54%
2000£76.342.96%
2001£77.691.77%
2002£78.991.67%
2003£81.272.89%
2004£83.692.98%
2005£86.062.82%
2006£88.813.20%
2007£92.614.29%
2008£96.313.99%
2009£95.80-0.53%
2010£100.224.61%
2011£105.435.20%
2012£108.823.21%
2013£112.133.04%
2014£114.772.36%
2015£115.910.99%
2016£117.921.74%
2017£122.153.58%
2018£125.452.70%
2019£128.582.50%
2020£130.901.80%
2021£134.162.49%
2022£144.767.90%
2023£154.997.07%
2024£161.043.90%*
* Compared to previous annual rate. Not final. See inflation summary for latest 12-month trailing value.

This conversion table shows various other 1885 amounts in 1887 pounds, based on the -2.27% change in prices:

Conversion: 1885 pounds in 1887
Initial valueEquivalent value
£1 pound in 1885£0.98 pounds in 1887
£5 pounds in 1885£4.89 pounds in 1887
£10 pounds in 1885£9.77 pounds in 1887
£50 pounds in 1885£48.86 pounds in 1887
£100 pounds in 1885£97.73 pounds in 1887
£500 pounds in 1885£488.64 pounds in 1887
£1,000 pounds in 1885£977.27 pounds in 1887
£5,000 pounds in 1885£4,886.36 pounds in 1887
£10,000 pounds in 1885£9,772.73 pounds in 1887
£50,000 pounds in 1885£48,863.64 pounds in 1887
£100,000 pounds in 1885£97,727.27 pounds in 1887
£500,000 pounds in 1885£488,636.36 pounds in 1887
£1,000,000 pounds in 1885£977,272.73 pounds in 1887

How to calculate inflation rate for £1, 1885 to 1887

Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1885 and 1887:

CPI in 1887 CPI in 1885
×
1885 GBP value
=
1887 GBP value

Then plug in historical CPI values. The U.K. CPI was 8.8 in the year 1885 and 8.6 in 1887:

8.68.8
×
£1
=
£0.98

£1 in 1885 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as £0.98 in 1887.

To get the total inflation rate for the 2 years between 1885 and 1887, we use the following formula:

CPI in 1887 - CPI in 1885CPI in 1885
×
100
=
Cumulative inflation rate (2 years)

Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:

8.6 - 8.88.8
×
100
=
-2%

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 1885 → 1887 | UK Inflation Calculator.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 28 Mar. 2024, https://www.officialdata.org/uk/inflation/1885?amount=1&endYear=1887.

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 1885 to 1887
Cumulative price change-2.27%
Average inflation rate-1.14%
Converted amount
£1 base
£0.98
Price difference
£1 base
£-0.02
CPI in 18858.800
CPI in 18878.600
Inflation in 1885-3.30%
Inflation in 1887-1.15%
£1 in 1885£0.98 in 1887