Converting Pounds and kg | How Many kg Is 1 Pound? Reading Ounces and Stones

1 pound is 453.59 g: converting and doing it in your head

One pound is exactly 453.59237 g. The value was fixed by an international agreement in 1959, so it does not vary from country to country. In kilograms it is about 0.4536 kg, and conversely 1 kg is about 2.205 pounds.

• Pounds → kg: pounds × 0.4536. 10 lb is about 4.54 kg.
• kg → pounds: kg × 2.205. 60 kg is about 132 lb.
• Mental shortcut: halve the pounds and take off 10%. 100 lb → 50 − 5 = 45 kg (actually 45.36 kg).
• The other way: double the kg and add 10%. 70 kg → 140 + 14 = 154 lb (actually 154.3 lb).

Quick-reference tables: pounds → kg and kg → pounds

These are figures that often come up in overseas shipping bands and airline weight limits.

Airline limits are often written with both numbers, such as “23 kg / 50 lb”, and strictly speaking 50 lb is 22.68 kg, a little lighter than 23 kg. For a bag right at the limit, the result can depend on which number it is weighed against.

Ounces and stones: watch out for different units with the same name

The ounce sits below the pound and the stone above it. Both have pitfalls that make them easy to confuse.

• Avoirdupois ounce (oz): 1/16 lb, about 28.35 g. This is the ounce used for food and post.
• Troy ounce (oz t): used for gold, silver and platinum, about 31.10 g. It is about 10% heavier despite the same name, so always distinguish it when converting precious-metal prices.
• Fluid ounce (fl oz): a unit of volume, not weight, about 29.57 mL in the US and about 28.41 mL in the UK. A drink labelled “8 fl oz” is about 237 mL.
• Stone (st): 1 st = 14 lb = about 6.35 kg. Used for body weight in the UK and Ireland.

In English-speaking countries, body weight and birth weight are often written as “larger unit + remainder”. 7 lb 6 oz works out as 7 × 453.6 + 6 × 28.35 = about 3,345 g. If a British record says “11 st 4 lb”, that is 11 × 6.35 + 4 × 0.454 = about 71.7 kg. To check your build using a weight converted to kg, see The BMI formula and weight categories.

The monme, kin and kan: traditional Japanese weight units

Japan also still has units in the same position as the pound. Only g and kg are legal units of measurement for trade, but these older units live on in custom.

The confusing one is the “1 kin” of Japanese sliced bread (shokupan). It is not the traditional 600 g: by labelling convention for packaged bread it means at least 340 g, and commercial loaves are usually about 340 to 400 g. The same character means a different weight, so check a recipe’s “1 kin of bread” by the number of slices or the weight. In Chinese markets the jin is 500 g, so the same unit name differs from country to country too.

Reading foreign units all at once

On overseas websites and in manuals, units other than weight belong to a different system as well. Here are typical numbers you meet when travelling or shopping online.

1. 1

   Choose a category in the unit converter

   It is divided into 10 categories such as weight, length, volume, temperature and speed. Choose weight and it starts on pounds → kg.

2. 2

   Enter a number and look at the list

   g, kg, ounces, pounds, stones, carats, monme, kin and kan are all shown at once, so you can read a value whichever unit it is written in.

3. 3

   Copy the quick-reference table

   You can copy a table listing 1, 2, 3, 5, 10 and so on. It helps with overseas shipping bands and baggage weight decisions.

Inches and feet are covered in Converting inches and cm. How to think about local times and arrival times when travelling abroad is in Calculating local time for flights, and how to recover after you land is in Beating jet lag.

FAQ

How many kg is 1 pound?

One pound is 0.45359237 kg, about 453.6 g. It is the exact value defined by the 1959 international yard and pound agreement, and it does not differ between countries. Conversely, 1 kg is about 2.205 pounds. For mental maths, remember “halve the pounds and take off 10%” to get close: 10 lb gives 5 minus 0.5 = 4.5 kg, and the real value is 4.54 kg.

What is the difference between lb and lbs?

They mean the same pound. lb is a symbol derived from the Latin libra, and lbs adds a plural s. As a unit symbol, lb is correct regardless of quantity, but lbs is widely used on shopping sites and in recipes. Writing # after a number to mean pounds (5# = 5 pounds) also appears on catering-size food packs.

How many grams is 1 ounce?

The avoirdupois ounce used for food and post is about 28.35 g, and 16 ounces make 1 pound (about 454 g). The troy ounce used for gold and silver, however, is about 31.10 g, about 10% heavier and a separate unit. On top of that, the fluid ounce (fl oz) is a unit of volume, about 29.57 mL in the US. When a recipe mixes oz and fl oz, read it as weight for flour or meat and as volume for liquids.

How do I convert a weight given in stone?

One stone is 14 pounds, about 6.35 kg. In the UK and Ireland, body weight is given in this unit with the remainder in pounds, as in “11 st 4 lb”. That example is 11 × 6.35 + 4 × 0.454 = about 71.7 kg. As rough guides, 9 stone is about 57.2 kg and 12 stone about 76.2 kg. In the US stones are not used; weight is usually given in pounds only.

How many grams is 1 kin of Japanese sliced bread?

By labelling convention for packaged bread, one kin of Japanese sliced bread (shokupan) is at least 340 g, and commercial loaves are typically about 340 to 400 g. The kin of the traditional system, by contrast, is 160 monme = 600 g, a different weight. Because the same character means different amounts, if a recipe says “1 kin of bread”, it is more reliable to check the number of slices (6-slice or 8-slice loaf) or the actual weight in grams. The monme used for pearls is 3.75 g.