US dollar (USD) to British pound (GBP) exchange rate chart and trend analysis based on real data sourced directly from UK currency suppliers
Our British pound to US dollar chart plots the actual US dollar buyback rates offered by our panel of UK currency providers at the end of each day, so you can see the historical performance of the US dollar against the pound and monitor fluctuations in the exchange rate over time.
This page shows the US dollar to pound exchange rate, not the US dollar buyback rate advertised in our US dollar buyback comparisons. Both rates are the same, but the buyback rate is displayed in a different format due to the way UK currency suppliers advertise their buyback rates. Learn more
This annual exchange rate summary provides a detailed breakdown of the performance of the US dollar against the British pound over the past several years so you can put today's US dollar buyback rates into context:
| Year | Open | Close | Low | High | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 0.7553 | --- | 0.7777 | 0.7218 | --- |
| 2023 | 0.8039 | 0.7552 | 0.8187 | 0.737 | 6.45% |
| 2022 | 0.7379 | 0.8027 | 0.9307 | 0.7277 | -8.07% |
| 2021 | 0.7288 | 0.7378 | 0.7555 | 0.6997 | -1.22% |
| 2020 | 0.7487 | 0.7264 | 0.8461 | 0.7264 | 3.07% |
| 2019 | 0.7811 | 0.7492 | 0.8247 | 0.7358 | 4.25% |
| 2018 | 0.7361 | 0.7813 | 0.797 | 0.693 | -5.78% |
| 2017 | 0.8019 | 0.7369 | 0.8244 | 0.7314 | 8.82% |
| 2016 | 0.6702 | 0.8019 | 0.8177 | 0.6693 | -16.42% |
Exchange rates can be displayed in different ways depending on the context. There's the US dollar to pound exchange rate, and the US dollar buyback rate. The two are in fact the same; they are just displayed differently.
The US dollar to pound exchange rate corresponds to the value of one US dollar in British pounds. For example, a US dollar to pound rate of 0.8 means one US dollar is worth 0.8 pounds.
In contrast, the US dollar buyback rate corresponds to the amount of US dollars you'd have to exchange to get one pound. For example, a US dollar buyback rate of 1.25 means you'd have to exchange 1.25 US dollars to get one pound.
UK currency suppliers prefer to show the US dollar buyback rate instead of the US dollar to pound exchange rate, so we follow the same format in our US dollar comparisons. However, on this page, we use the US dollar to pound exchange rate since this is what the data is intended to show.
The two rates are interchangeable: to convert the US dollar buyback rate into the actual US dollar to pound rate, just divide 1 by the US dollar buyback rate, e.g.: 1 / 1.25 = 0.8.
If you want to exchange US dollars into British pounds, we can help you to find a reputable foreign exchange provider. We compare the US dollar rates from tried-and-tested companies who will buy currency by post or over the counter.
For a complete comparison of providers and their latest buyback rates, see our US dollar currency buyback comparisons.