Convert kg to lbs

One kilogram equals 2.204623 pounds. To convert any number of kilograms to pounds, multiply by 2.20462262.

The converter above works in both directions and updates as you type. Below you will find the formula, a worked example and a reference table of common values.

Weight and mass conversions matter most in three places: shipping, where a rate band can turn on a single kilogram; cooking, where recipes cross between metric grams and imperial ounces; and personal weight, where Britain and Ireland use stones, the United States uses pounds, and everywhere else uses kilograms. Strictly these are mass units rather than weight units, and the distinction only bites in physics, where weight is a force measured in newtons.

kg to lbs formula

To go the other way, use kilogram = pound ÷ 2.20462262.

About these units

Since 2019 the kilogram has been defined by the Planck constant rather than a metal cylinder in Paris, making it reproducible in any properly equipped laboratory.

The international avoirdupois pound is exactly 0.45359237 kilograms — defined in terms of the metric system, not the other way round.

Kilogram is also written kilogramme, kilogrammes, kilograms, kilos, kilo and kgs. Pound is also written pounds, lbs and #.

Sources

1. National Bureau of Standards, "Refinement of Values for the Yard and the Pound", Federal Register, 1 July 1959 — the international yard as exactly 0.9144 m and the avoirdupois pound as exactly 0.45359237 kg.