How much is a pound worth in 1920?

This is simple program for calculating historical money rates for Australia. It is intended to be a basic approach to calculating the relative value of money in Australia from 1850 to the present. It is based on the Retail Price Index developed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Obviously using the Retail Price Index is but one means of calculating relative values. More detailed discussion is available at these sites Current value of money and Measuring worth. The latter was the inspiration for this calculator.

Currency Converter by Date - Historical Exchange Rate Graph of change in 1920 Pound Sterling to US Dollar

Changes in the value of 1920 Pound Sterling in US Dollar

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Value of a dollar. Calculates inflation to see what a U.S. dollar was worth in the past and today. View historical and today's current inflation rates, using the CPI provided by the United States government. Inflation data is updated regularly, so results may differ from other websites. How much has the cost of living increased? What was inflation for a specific period?

How much is $800 in 1920 dollars worth?

YearEquivalent2022$11,8012021$11,0252020$10,8772019$10,6342018$10,4352017$10,2192016$10,0122015$9,9392014$9,8652013$9,7192012$9,5522011$9,2772010$9,1412009$8,8992008$8,8902007$8,5422006$8,3302005$8,0552004$7,8012003$7,6572002$7,4792001$7,3652000$7,1241999$6,9381998$6,8281997$6,7131996$6,4971995$6,337

YearEquivalent1994$6,1711993$6,0061992$5,8371991$5,6631990$5,3381989$5,1011988$4,8851987$4,6771986$4,6261985$4,4571984$4,2881983$4,1311982$3,9791981$3,6531980$3,2471979$2,8661978$2,6291977$2,4631976$2,3491975$2,1971974$1,9561973$1,7991972$1,7401971$1,6851970$1,5961969$1,5031968$1,4351967$1,393

YearEquivalent1966$1,3461965$1,3211964$1,3081963$1,2871962$1,2701961$1,2611960$1,2441959$1,2231958$1,2021957$1,1681956$1,1341955$1,1301954$1,1391953$1,1301952$1,1221951$1,0581950$9991949$1,0201948$9901947$9101946$7701945$7531944$7371943$7151942$6561941$5971940$5931939$593

YearEquivalent1938$6101937$5931936$5841935$5671934$5591933$5541932$6181931$6811930$7281929$7241928$7321927$7491926$7581925$7321924$7321923$7151922$7321921$8211920$8001919$6981918$5801917$4911916$4361915$4281914$423

Needless to say what is £1 now would have been worth very very...very little back then... but how much exactly?

2000
Well going back just 14 years to 2000 a pound then would have been worth around £1.50 now! A huge difference in our life times when you think about it on a grander scale!

1980
In 1980 which many of our parents will remember as the good old days, one pound then would be worth £4.44 in modern times!

1960
Back again 20 years to 1960 and we'll see a pound then is around £20.31 of today's money! You'd be rich to drop a pound in a buskers hat!

Here's an image showing the prices of things in the 1960's compared to now!

To learn more about the history of inflation effecting not only the UK but Europe also check out this video!

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£1 in 1920 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £43.63 in 2018, an increase of £42.63 over 98 years. The pound had an average inflation rate of 3.93% per year between 1920 and 2018, producing a cumulative price increase of 4,263.33%.

This means that prices in 2018 are 43.63 times higher than average prices since 1920, according to the Office for National Statistics composite price index.

The inflation rate in 1920 was 15.53%. The inflation rate in 2018 was 2.70%. The 2018 inflation rate is lower compared to the average inflation rate of 4.89% per year between 2018 and 2022.

Inflation from 1920 to 2018Cumulative price change4,263.33%Average inflation rate3.93%Converted amount (£1 base)£43.63Price difference (£1 base)£42.63CPI in 192025.300CPI in 20181,103.922Inflation in 192015.53%Inflation in 20182.70%£1 in 1920£43.63 in 2018

Annual Rate, the Office for National Statistics CPI

Buying power of £1 in 1920

This chart shows a calculation of buying power equivalence for £1 in 1920 (price index tracking began in 1750).

For example, if you started with £1, you would need to end with £43.63 in order to "adjust" for inflation (sometimes refered to as "beating inflation").

When £1 is equivalent to £43.63 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 1920 dollars, the chart below shows how £1 is worth less over 98 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: 1920-2018YearPound ValueInflation Rate1920£1.0015.53%1921£0.91-8.70%1922£0.79-13.85%1923£0.74-6.03%1924£0.74-0.53%1925£0.740.00%1926£0.73-0.54%1927£0.71-2.70%1928£0.710.00%1929£0.70-1.11%1930£0.68-2.81%1931£0.66-4.05%1932£0.64-2.41%1933£0.62-2.47%1934£0.620.00%1935£0.630.63%1936£0.630.63%1937£0.663.75%1938£0.661.20%1939£0.682.98%1940£0.8016.76%1941£0.8910.89%1942£0.957.14%1943£0.983.33%1944£1.012.82%1945£1.042.75%1946£1.073.05%1947£1.147.04%1948£1.237.61%1949£1.262.89%1950£1.303.13%1951£1.429.09%1952£1.559.17%1953£1.603.05%1954£1.631.98%1955£1.704.36%1956£1.795.10%1957£1.853.53%1958£1.913.20%1959£1.920.41%1960£1.941.03%1961£2.013.46%1962£2.094.33%1963£2.131.89%1964£2.213.33%1965£2.314.66%1966£2.403.94%1967£2.462.64%1968£2.584.65%1969£2.725.37%1970£2.896.40%1971£3.169.44%1972£3.397.13%1973£3.709.10%1974£4.2916.04%1975£5.3324.24%1976£6.2116.54%1977£7.1915.85%1978£7.798.30%1979£8.8313.39%1980£10.4217.99%1981£11.6611.87%1982£12.668.61%1983£13.254.59%1984£13.914.98%1985£14.756.08%1986£15.253.40%1987£15.894.17%1988£16.674.90%1989£17.967.78%1990£19.669.46%1991£20.825.87%1992£21.603.74%1993£21.941.59%1994£22.472.41%1995£23.253.47%1996£23.812.41%1997£24.563.14%1998£25.403.43%1999£25.791.54%2000£26.552.96%2001£27.021.77%2002£27.471.67%2003£28.272.89%2004£29.112.98%2005£29.932.82%2006£30.893.20%2007£32.214.29%2008£33.503.99%2009£33.32-0.53%2010£34.864.61%2011£36.675.20%2012£37.853.21%2013£39.003.04%2014£39.922.36%2015£40.320.99%2016£41.021.74%2017£42.493.58%2018£43.632.70%2019£44.722.50%2020£45.531.80%2021£46.662.49%2022£52.8213.20%** Compared to previous annual rate. Not final. See inflation summary for latest 12-month trailing value.

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This conversion table shows various other 1920 amounts in 2018 pounds, based on the 4,263.33% change in prices:

Conversion: 1920 pounds in 2018Initial valueEquivalent value£1 pound in 1920£43.63 pounds in 2018£5 pounds in 1920£218.17 pounds in 2018£10 pounds in 1920£436.33 pounds in 2018£50 pounds in 1920£2,181.66 pounds in 2018£100 pounds in 1920£4,363.33 pounds in 2018£500 pounds in 1920£21,816.65 pounds in 2018£1,000 pounds in 1920£43,633.29 pounds in 2018£5,000 pounds in 1920£218,166.46 pounds in 2018£10,000 pounds in 1920£436,332.92 pounds in 2018£50,000 pounds in 1920£2,181,664.62 pounds in 2018£100,000 pounds in 1920£4,363,329.25 pounds in 2018£500,000 pounds in 1920£21,816,646.25 pounds in 2018£1,000,000 pounds in 1920£43,633,292.49 pounds in 2018

How to calculate inflation rate for £1, 1920 to 2018

Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1920 and 2018:

Then plug in historical CPI values. The U.K. CPI was 25.3 in the year 1920 and 1103.9223 in 2018:

£1 in 1920 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as £43.63 in 2018.

To get the total inflation rate for the 98 years between 1920 and 2018, we use the following formula:

CPI in 2018 - CPI in 1920CPI in 1920

Cumulative inflation rate (98 years)

Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:

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: “£1 in 1920 → 2018 | UK Inflation Calculator.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 1 Dec. 2022, https://www.officialdata.org/1920-GBP-in-2018?amount=1.

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