1. What is Percentage Increase?

Percentage increase measures how much a quantity has grown relative to its original value, expressed as a percentage. It's commonly used in finance, economics, statistics, and everyday life to track growth or expansion.

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the percentage increase formula:

Where:

• New Value — The current or final value
• Old Value — The original or starting value

Explanation: The formula calculates the difference between the new and old values, divides by the old value to get the relative change, then multiplies by 100 to convert to a percentage.

3. Importance of Percentage Increase Calculation

Details: Percentage increase is crucial for understanding growth rates in business (sales, profits), investments (returns), demographics (population growth), and scientific measurements. It provides a standardized way to compare changes across different scales.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter both old and new values as positive numbers. The old value must be greater than zero (division by zero is undefined). Results are rounded to two decimal places.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What if the result is negative?
A: A negative result indicates a percentage decrease rather than increase. The absolute value shows the magnitude of change.

Q2: How is this different from percentage points?
A: Percentage increase is relative to the original value, while percentage points measure absolute difference between two percentages.

Q3: What's the maximum possible percentage increase?
A: There's no theoretical maximum. A value increasing from 1 to 100 would be a 9900% increase.

Q4: How do I calculate percentage decrease?
A: The same formula works - you'll get a negative result which indicates decrease. Alternatively, reverse the values in the formula.

Q5: Why is the old value in the denominator?
A: This makes the increase relative to the original amount, allowing meaningful comparisons between different starting points.