Convert EUR to GBP Euro ↔ Pound sterling Free Online Secure
Type an amount in Euro and read it in Pound sterling at once. The page uses the European Central Bank's reference rate, and tells you which day that rate is from.
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Common amounts — Convert EUR to GBP (Euro ↔ Pound sterling)
| EUR | GBP |
|---|---|
| 1 | |
| 5 | |
| 10 | |
| 20 | |
| 50 | |
| 100 | |
| 250 | |
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| 1000 | |
| 5000 |
The last thirty days
Where these codes and rates come from
The three letters in EUR, USD or JPY are not an abbreviation someone invented for a website: they are ISO 4217, a standard in which the first two letters are the country's own code and the third is usually the initial of the currency. The figures on this page come from the European Central Bank, which publishes one set of reference rates each working day, around 16:00 Central European time, agreed between the central banks of the Eurosystem. They are a daily snapshot meant for statistics and accounting, not a live trading feed — which is exactly why they are the same number for everyone, rather than whatever one bank happened to quote at one moment.
Where you meet an exchange rate
You meet an exchange rate four or five times a year without thinking about it: booking a trip, paying an invoice issued abroad, buying from a foreign shop, reading a salary offer in another currency, or checking what a card charge really cost. In all of these the reference rate is the honest middle, and the price you actually pay sits a little to one side of it. Knowing the middle is what lets you see how wide that margin is.
Questions people ask
Is this the rate my bank will give me?
No, and no page can promise one. This is the European Central Bank's reference rate: the midpoint published once a day for statistics. A bank, a card scheme or an exchange office adds its own margin on top — usually between half a percent and three percent, sometimes more at an airport counter. Use this figure to judge the offer you are given, not to predict it.
How often does the figure change, and what happens at weekends?
The European Central Bank publishes once each working day, in the afternoon, Central European time. There is no publication on Saturdays, Sundays or TARGET holidays, so on those days the page shows the last working day's rate and says which day it belongs to. The chart alongside is one year of the same daily series.
Is the answer exact?
Where both units are defined in terms of one another by whole numbers, yes — the page says so above the figure, and the only rounding is in how many digits are shown. Where the ratio has no finite decimal, the page shows twelve significant digits and says the relation is approximate rather than pretending otherwise.
Does anything I type leave my device?
No. The arithmetic runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded and there is no server to upload it to. Load the page once and it keeps working with the network switched off.
Two neighbours, two currencies: why people Convert EUR to GBP
Britain and the euro area sit a few miles apart across the Channel, trade enormous quantities of goods and services, and still keep separate money. A Dutch grower sells tulips to a London florist, a Spanish bank pays a London contractor, a German family books a week in Cornwall, and a Londoner buys a flat in Provence. All of them stand at the same small gate, on one side of which are euros and on the other pounds. When they need to Convert EUR to GBP, the sum is easy to state and the details are where the money is made or lost.
This page performs the conversion with the European Central Bank's daily reference rate, shows the date of that rate and keeps your amount inside your browser. The text beneath is about the pair itself: how it got its present shape after 1992 and 2016, who uses it and when, how to read a price that arrives in the wrong currency, and how to avoid paying more than you have to for a conversion that happens millions of times a day.
How the pair came to be what it is
The pound that stayed outside
When the euro was planned in the 1990s, Britain negotiated the right not to join and has never used it. The pound had been inside the European exchange-rate mechanism for two years when, on 16 September 1992, speculators forced it out in a day remembered as Black Wednesday. That experience left British policymakers sceptical of fixed rates, and the pound has floated freely against the euro ever since.
The long decade of the stronger pound
Anyone who had to Convert EUR to GBP in those years remembers how much the answer depended on the month.
For much of the first decade of the euro, one euro bought about sixty-five to seventy pence, and British holidaymakers found the continent cheap. By 2008 the pattern reversed for a while, with the euro briefly close to parity with the pound, and anyone who had budgeted for a villa in Tuscany at the old rate had a shock.
The referendum and its aftermath
On 23 June 2016 Britain voted to leave the European Union. The pound dropped several per cent against the euro overnight and settled at a lower level than before. Britain left on 31 January 2020 and the transition period ended at the end of that year. The currencies did not change, but the rules around trade, travel and work did, and many people who had never thought about the exchange rate began to look at it.
What the history teaches
A rate between two large economies can shift by several per cent in a day when politics intervene. If you have to Convert EUR to GBP for a payment due in some months, treat any quote as valid only for the day on which you see it.
Using the page
An amount, a date, an answer
Type the euros. The page multiplies by the reference rate, which states how many pounds one euro buys, and shows the result together with the date of the rate. If you are reading on a Saturday, the rate is Friday's and the page says so.
Why the figure is not the figure at your bank
The reference rate is the midpoint agreed once a day, around 16:00 in Frankfurt. A bank or exchange office quotes two prices, one at which it buys and one at which it sells, and neither is the midpoint. The gap between the midpoint and what you are offered is the cost of the service, and you can see it by comparing.
The thirty-day line
Before you Convert EUR to GBP for a payment, a quick look at that line tells you whether the week has been calm.
Under the converter a line shows the last month of reference rates. Pairs between close neighbours usually move less than pairs with the dollar, so a line that is nearly flat is normal, and a visible slope is a signal worth paying attention to. For the opposite direction, from pounds to euros, use Convert GBP to EUR.
Who needs this conversion
British people living on the continent
Tens of thousands of British retirees live in Spain, France, Portugal and Italy on pensions paid in pounds. Their rent and shopping are in euros, so every pound of income is exposed to the rate. When sterling weakens, their living costs rise, and many keep a euro account to smooth the changes.
Europeans working in Britain
Nurses, builders, chefs and engineers from the continent send part of their pay home. A transfer from London to a euro account is an exchange of pounds for euros, and the provider's margin affects every remittance. People in this position benefit from understanding the reference rate as a benchmark.
Importers, exporters and online shops
A small British shop that sells to Europe quotes in euros to keep prices clear, then converts the income into pounds. A French firm that buys from Britain pays in pounds or negotiates euros. Whoever has to Convert EUR to GBP regularly for invoices will do well to agree a rule for which day's rate applies.
Students, tourists and weekenders
Universities in the United Kingdom charge fees in pounds, and European students who once paid the lower rate for home students now pay the international one. Tourists use cards for nearly everything, but taxis, small markets and tips are in cash. The Eurostar, which covers London to Paris in a little over two hours, has made weekend trips between the two capitals a regular part of life, and with them a regular need for the rate.
Prices in Britain, seen from the euro area
The sticker and the till
British shops include value-added tax, called VAT, in the shelf price, so there is no surprise at the till. Restaurants often add a discretionary service charge of about twelve and a half per cent, which you can ask to remove if the service was poor. A euro-area visitor who converts the menu price and ignores the charge will underestimate the bill.
Distances and speeds
Roads in Britain are signed in miles and miles per hour, even though fuel is sold by the litre. A quick way to feel a distance is to Convert MI to KM: a sign that says 30 means 30 miles per hour, about 48 kilometres per hour. Hire cars have a dual speedometer, but the signs do not.
Time and weather
Britain is an hour behind most of continental Europe, a fact that matters for phone calls and train connections; to compare the two clocks, Convert GMT to CET is a quick check. Weather forecasts there use Celsius, so there is nothing to convert.
How banks and services treat this pair
The margin ladder
On a thousand euros, a good bank transfer may cost five or ten euros in margin, a card payment abroad twenty, a high-street exchange counter thirty, and an airport kiosk fifty or more. These are rough orders of magnitude, but they show why it is worth walking a hundred metres from the airport to a bank machine.
Transfer services
Specialised services hold accounts in both currencies and move money by matching payments, which cuts their costs. They publish the rate and the fee before you confirm, and usually beat the high street. When you Convert EUR to GBP through one of them, compare their rate to the reference on this page before you press confirm.
Cards with no foreign fee
A card that charges no foreign-transaction fee and uses the network's rate is the simplest answer for travel. Check the terms: some cards waive the fee but still apply a margin to the rate.
The terminal that asks
When a terminal in Britain asks whether to pay in pounds or in euros, choose pounds. The euro option is converted at the terminal's own rate, which is almost always worse.
Larger payments and planning
Whenever a transfer is big enough to matter, ask your bank two questions before you Convert EUR to GBP: what rate will apply, and on which day.
Property and relocation
Buying or selling a home across the Channel involves a sum large enough that a movement of two per cent is worth thousands. Many buyers fix the rate with a forward contract on the day of exchange, even though the completion date is weeks away.
Business invoices
For companies, the questions are which currency appears on the invoice, when the rate is fixed, and who bears the risk. A rule that works well is to invoice in the buyer's currency and to price in a small cushion for the movement between invoice and payment.
Budgeting a stay
It takes only a moment to Convert EUR to GBP for the whole trip and compare it with a cheaper alternative.
A week in Edinburgh or Bath is easiest to plan in pounds, then convert the total once. If your budget is in euros, add five per cent to cover the margin and a likely change in the rate.
A month in the life of a British retiree in Spain
Income in one currency, spending in another
Take a retired couple in Andalusia whose state and private pensions arrive in pounds on the first of the month. Their rent, electricity, food and car costs are all in euros. Each month they look at the rate and decide how many pounds to bring across, and when a euro refund or a sale comes in, they Convert EUR to GBP to see what it is worth in their pension currency. If the pound has lost four per cent against the euro since the spring, the same pension buys four per cent less in the supermarket in Málaga, and they feel it before any economist writes it up.
The cushion account
Sensible couples keep three to six months of euro spending in a local account, topping it up when the pound is strong. The reference rate on this page is the benchmark they use to judge each top-up, and the thirty-day line tells them whether this is a good week or an ordinary one.
Healthcare, tax and the unavoidable bills
Some bills arrive in pounds, such as a UK credit card or a pension plan, while others arrive in euros, such as local taxes and insurance. Matching income and spending currency by currency reduces the number of conversions, and every conversion avoided is a margin saved.
Weekend in London on a euro budget
What things cost
London is among the dearest cities in Europe for hotels and restaurants. A mid-range hotel room can be two hundred pounds, a pub lunch fifteen, a theatre ticket sixty. Convert each amount once, keep the euro figures in your notes, and you will quickly see whether your weekend plan fits your budget.
Paying on the go
Contactless cards are accepted on buses, in the Underground and in nearly every shop. There is no need to buy a ticket in advance for the Tube: tap in and tap out with the same card. The fare is charged in pounds, and your bank turns it into euros at its own rate, so a modest margin applies to each journey.
Daily capping
Public transport in London caps the daily charge, so you will not pay more than a fixed amount in a day however often you travel. That cap is in pounds, and a visitor who wants to Convert EUR to GBP to plan transport can use it as a ceiling.
The tip and the service charge
A discretionary service charge is often added to restaurant bills, and you may pay it or ask for it to be removed. It is a custom more than a duty, but most visitors pay it for good service.
Workers from Poland and Romania
A large community, a regular transfer
Several hundred thousand Polish and Romanian people live in Britain, and many send part of their pay home each month. For them the relevant conversions start with pounds, not euros: Convert PLN to GBP and Convert RON to GBP show what a pay packet is worth in their home currency. Whoever works across more than one currency keeps the euro as a common yardstick, so a quick glance at the euro rate is often the first step.
Why the reference matters most to them
A remittance of two hundred pounds, sent every month for a year, carries twelve margins. If the provider takes two per cent instead of one, the difference is forty-eight pounds a year, enough to pay for a flight home. The reference rate is the single number that lets you test any provider honestly.
Pricing a catalogue in two currencies
The small business view
A small firm that sells online to both Britain and the euro area must decide whether to show prices in euros and pounds. If it fixes both lists by hand, it carries the exchange risk in the gap between updates. If it lets software convert on the fly, the price changes every day, which customers dislike.
A workable compromise
Many firms update their lists once a quarter, using the reference rate on a fixed day plus a safety margin of three to five per cent. When customers pay in pounds, the firm receives its money in pounds and converts when it needs euros. Anyone setting up such a list needs to Convert EUR to GBP in bulk, and the table of common amounts on this page gives the figures for the most frequent price points.
VAT and customs after Brexit
Since 2021, goods sent between the European Union and Britain pass through customs, and VAT is collected at the border for small parcels. A buyer who sees a low price in euros may find that the real bill includes a handling fee. Ask the seller who is responsible for the import VAT before you order.
Mistakes when you Convert EUR to GBP
Mixing pounds and pence
British prices below a pound are in pence, written with a p. A bar of chocolate at 85p is not eighty-five pounds. In older signs you may also see a price written as 0.85.
Forgetting the Scottish and Northern Irish notes
Banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland print their own notes, valid across the United Kingdom, though a shop in England may hesitate. Spend them before leaving, or change them at a bank.
Using Brexit-era rates
An exchange rate quoted in an article from 2016 or 2017 is not today's. The date next to the result on this page is there precisely to stop this error.
Believing that sterling is the same as the pound
Sterling is the name of the currency and the pound its unit. Prices in sterling and prices in pounds are the same thing, but the British pound should not be mixed up with the Egyptian or Lebanese pound.
Converting through the dollar
Some services convert euros to dollars and then dollars to pounds. Two margins are paid and nothing is gained. For a direct comparison with the dollar rates, Convert EUR to USD and Convert GBP to USD are on the same site.
Questions and answers
How do I Convert EUR to GBP on this page?
Enter the amount in euros in the first field. The result in pounds appears with the date of the reference rate.
Which rate is used?
The European Central Bank's daily reference rate for the pound, published on working days at about 16:00 Central European Time.
Is the rate better at the weekend?
There is no weekend rate. The markets are closed, so the page shows Friday's figure.
Can I rely on it for accounting?
The reference rate is widely accepted, but your accountant or auditor may specify another source. Ask before you rely on it for an official record.
Do you store my numbers?
No. Your amount stays in your browser.
Other conversions nearby
Swiss clients are covered by Convert EUR to CHF, and anyone with Romanian ties will find Convert EUR to RON handy. The rest of the pair family lives under the page for the euro and the dollar, Convert USD to EUR.
Your amount stays with you
The only thing fetched is the table of rates. The number you type is not sent anywhere, nothing is stored and there is no account. It is a plain way to Convert EUR to GBP without handing your plans to a stranger.
In short
To Convert EUR to GBP, enter the euros and read the pounds at the latest reference rate of the European Central Bank, with its date alongside. It is the midpoint of the market, so any real offer will be a little worse. Use it as a benchmark, avoid conversions through a third currency, choose pounds when a terminal asks and remember that at the weekend you see Friday's rate.