£

Value of 1971 British Pounds today

£4,500 in 1971
£65,391.3 in 2024

The inflation rate in the United Kingdom between 1971 and today has been 1,353.14%, which translates into a total increase of £60,891.3. This means that 4,500 pounds in 1971 are equivalent to 65,391.3 pounds in 2024. In other words, the purchasing power of £4,500 in 1971 equals £65,391.3 today. The average annual inflation rate between these periods has been 5.18%.

Inflation timeline in the United Kingdom (1971 - 2024)

The following chart depicts the equivalence of £4,500 due to compound inflation and CPI changes. All values are equivalent in terms of purchasing power, which means that for each year the same goods or services could be bought with the indicated amount of money.

All calculations are performed in the local currency (GBP) and using 6 decimal digits. Results show only up to 2 decimal digits to favour readability. Inflation data is provided by governments and international institutions on a monthly basis. Today's values were extrapolated from the latest 12-month rolling average official data.

The following table contains relevant indicators:

Indicator Value
Cumulative inflation 1971-2023 1,296.82%
Cumulative inflation 1971-today 1,353.14%
Avg. Annual inflation 1971-2023 5.2%
CPI 1971 9.21
CPI 2023 128.6
CPI 2024-09 (latest official data) 133.5
CPI today 133.79

How to calculate today's value of money after inflation?

There are several ways to calculate the time value of money. Depending on the data available, results can be obtained by using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) formula or the compound interest formula.

Using the CPI formula

When we have both the start and end years, we can use the following formula:

Valuet =Value0 ×
CPIt/CPI0

To obtain the values equivalent in buying power between 1971 and 2023, use the corresponding CPI values:

Value2023
=Value1971 ×
CPI2023/CPI1971
=£ 4,500 ×
128.6/9.21
£62,856.84

To obtain the equivalent value today (present value), plug in the CPI for today, which is estimated as 133.79:

Valuetoday
=Value1971 ×
CPItoday/CPI1971
=£ 4,500 ×
133.79/9.21
£65,391.3

Alternative: Using the compound interest formula

Given that money changes with time as a result of an inflation rate that acts as compound interest, we can use the following formula: FV = PV × (1 + i)n, where:

  • FV: Future Value
  • PV: Present Value
  • i: Interest rate (inflation)
  • n: Number of times the interest is compounded (i.e. # of years)

In this case, the future value represents the final amount obtained after applying the inflation rate to our initial value. In other words, it indicates how much are £4,500 worth today. There are 52 years between 1971 and 2023 and the average inflation rate was 5.2015%. Therefore, we can resolve the formula like this:

Value2023
=PV × (1 + i)n
=£4,500 × (1 + 0.052015)52
£62,856.84

UK inflation - Conversion table

Initial Value Equivalent value
£1 pound in 1971 £13.97 pounds in 2023
£5 pounds in 1971 £69.84 pounds in 2023
£10 pounds in 1971 £139.68 pounds in 2023
£50 pounds in 1971 £698.41 pounds in 2023
£100 pounds in 1971 £1,396.82 pounds in 2023
£500 pounds in 1971 £6,984.09 pounds in 2023
£1,000 pounds in 1971 £13,968.19 pounds in 2023
£5,000 pounds in 1971 £69,840.94 pounds in 2023
£10,000 pounds in 1971 £139,681.87 pounds in 2023
£50,000 pounds in 1971 £698,409.35 pounds in 2023
£100,000 pounds in 1971 £1,396,818.71 pounds in 2023
£500,000 pounds in 1971 £6,984,093.54 pounds in 2023
£1,000,000 pounds in 1971 £13,968,187.07 pounds in 2023
Cumulative inflation From 1971 1,353.14%
Avg. annual inflation From 1971 5.18%
CPI 1971 9.21
CPI today 133.79

Value of Pound over time (by year)

Period Value
1971 4,500
1972 4,818.2
1973 5,261.28
1974 6,105.4
1975 7,583.36
1976 8,839.12
1977 10,239.26
1978 11,085.35
1979 12,573.14
1980 14,832.02
1981 16,593.57
1982 18,020.43
1983 18,851.05
1984 19,786.19
1985 20,987.49
1986 21,706.86
1987 22,607.46
1988 23,559.1
1989 24,927.67
1990 26,931.66
1991 28,935.65
1992 30,255.35
1993 31,037.4
1994 31,721.69
1995 32,552.61
1996 33,481.29
1997 34,214.46
1998 34,849.87
1999 35,485.28
2000 35,876.3
2001 36,462.83
2002 37,000.49
2003 37,489.27
2004 38,026.92
2005 38,808.97
2006 39,786.52
2007 40,715.2
2008 42,132.66
2009 42,963.58
2010 44,038.89
2011 45,749.61
2012 46,922.68
2013 47,997.99
2014 48,682.28
2015 48,877.79
2016 49,366.57
2017 50,637.39
2018 51,810.46
2019 52,690.26
2020 53,227.92
2021 54,547.62
2022 58,897.74
2023 62,856.84
2024-09 65,251.85
Today 65,391.3

All available years

Today's value of british pounds by year:

1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |

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