GBP to EUR

Who uses pound-to-euro conversion

You’ll usually find two types of people behind this exchange. Many are based in the UK with everyday commitments or investments across the Channel, think about someone in Surrey who owns a holiday apartment in Spain. Bills like community charges, energy and property taxes must be settled in euros, though their job pays them in pounds. There’s also the pensioner who’s made Portugal home but still relies on a UK pension, or maybe a freelance coder in Leeds working for a German firm who gets paid in euros but handles expenses here.

Businesses make up the rest. Any UK store that sources products from Italian or Dutch suppliers is at the mercy of the pound-euro rate, which directly affects what ends up as profit. If you want an exact reference, 1000 pounds at the mid-market rate stands at 1,199.38 EUR. That’s a clear line to measure against when you check any provider’s deal. If you’re converting euros back to pounds, take a look at the EUR → GBP page instead.

Why the pound and euro move

The euro’s used right across the eurozone, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Ireland and more, and its interest rates are set by the European Central Bank in Frankfurt. Although created in 1999 for accounting, it only arrived in wallets in 2002. The UK decided against joining, kept the pound under the Bank of England, and left the EU altogether in January 2020. These two currencies trade freely against one another.

What sways the pound-euro rate? Often, it’s the gap between central bank decisions, updates on inflation or economic growth, or sometimes political shifts. There was a marked fall in sterling right after the 2016 referendum on EU membership; negotiations continued to push the rate around. Over the last year GBP/EUR moved +5.71%, ranging between 1.1304 and 1.1994. While their economies are closely tied so changes often aren’t dramatic, small shifts still add up when you’re paying for property abroad.

What happens when euros are sent

Euro transfers inside the eurozone use SEPA, a shared network that allows you to move money to any bank there using just an IBAN. A Spanish IBAN starts with ES, while French ones begin FR and German ones DE. Most people in Europe know their IBAN by heart. Where both sides support SEPA Instant, payments can land within seconds; with regular SEPA, it’s usually the next business day.

If you send money from a UK bank straight to Europe, your payment may go through the wider international network and could face fees along its route. Providers who hold their own euro accounts handle things differently: you send them pounds by Faster Payments, and they pay out to the receiver locally over SEPA so it looks like any ordinary transfer. For a closer look at how things work, see our articles on SWIFT versus SEPA or SEPA instant transfers.

Costs: regular vs one-off payments

If you pay a recurring bill each month, maybe a few hundred pounds each time, the exchange rate margin is usually what matters most, since a flat fee makes less of a difference as it’s spread thinly. Consider a payment of 500 pounds: at the moment, Revolut is the cheapest in our comparison. If you’re sending 1000 pounds, the most competitive provider pays out 1,193.58 EUR.

For context, on a 1000-pound transfer Wise charges 4.84 GBP in fees, and their overall cost including the rate margin is 0.48%. Revolut’s total comes to 0.50%. You’ll find reviews on our Wise review and our Revolut review, with an outline of our rating process at How we compare. If you send regular payments, set up a recurring transfer with the top-ranked provider for your amount, and it helps to check the table every few months.

How timing affects larger or property payments

If you’re buying property in the eurozone, you’ll likely make several payments, reservation, deposit, then the remainder at completion, over a span of weeks or months. Each conversion happens on a different day, so your final exchange rate works out as an average you can’t pick in advance. Knowing your budget exchange rate beforehand helps you see your headroom for the whole deal.

If your budget is tight, you may want to arrange a forward contract to lock in a rate for a future payment. For these larger payments, providers may request evidence of funding, so keep your bank statements handy. Planning to visit Switzerland too? Information on that route is at GBP → CHF.