Value
In 2006, the House of Commons Library published a document which included an index of prices in pounds for each year between 1750 and 2005, where 1974 was indexed at 100. (This was an update of earlier documents published in 1998 and 2003.)
Regarding the period 1750–1914 the document states: "Although there was considerable year on year fluctuation in price levels prior to 1914 (reflecting the quality of the harvest, wars, etc.) there was not the long-term steady increase in prices associated with the period since 1945". It goes on to say that "Since 1945 prices have risen in every year with an aggregate rise of over 27 times."
The value of the index in 1751 was 5.1, increasing to a peak of 16.3 in 1813 before declining very soon after the end of the Napoleonic Wars to around 10.0 and remaining in the range 8.5–10.0 at the end of the nineteenth century. The index was 9.8 in 1914 and peaked at 25.3 in 1920, before declining to 15.8 in 1933 and 1934—prices were only about three times as high as they had been 180 years earlier.
Inflation had a dramatic effect during and after World War II—the index was 20.2 in 1940, 33.0 in 1950, 49.1 in 1960, 73.1 in 1970, 263.7 in 1980, 497.5 in 1990, 671.8 in 2000 and 757.3 in 2005.
The following table shows the equivalent amount of goods that, in a particular year, could be purchased with £1. The table shows that from 1971 through 2009 the British Pound has lost about 90% of its buying power.
| Year | Equivalent buying power | Year | Equivalent buying power | Year | Equivalent buying power | Year | Equivalent buying power | Year | Equivalent buying power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | £1.00 | 1981 | £0.271 | 1991 | £0.152 | 2001 | £0.117 | 2011 | £0.0900 |
| 1972 | £0.935 | 1982 | £0.250 | 1992 | £0.146 | 2002 | £0.115 | ||
| 1973 | £0.855 | 1983 | £0.239 | 1993 | £0.144 | 2003 | £0.112 | ||
| 1974 | £0.735 | 1984 | £0.227 | 1994 | £0.141 | 2004 | £0.109 | ||
| 1975 | £0.592 | 1985 | £0.214 | 1995 | £0.136 | 2005 | £0.106 | ||
| 1976 | £0.510 | 1986 | £0.207 | 1996 | £0.133 | 2006 | £0.102 | ||
| 1977 | £0.439 | 1987 | £0.199 | 1997 | £0.123 | 2007 | £0.0980 | ||
| 1978 | £0.407 | 1988 | £0.190 | 1998 | £0.125 | 2008 | £0.0943 | ||
| 1979 | £0.358 | 1989 | £0.176 | 1999 | £0.123 | 2009 | £0.0952 | ||
| 1980 | £0.303 | 1990 | £0.161 | 2000 | £0.119 | 2010 | £0.0910 |
Read more about this topic: Pound Sterling
Famous quotes containing the word value:
“And those handmade presents that children often bring home from school: They have so much value! The value is that the child put whatever he or she could into making them. The way we parents respond to the giving of such gifts is very important. To the child the gift is really self, and they want so much for their selves to be acceptable, to be loved.”
—Fred Rogers (20th century)