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 general data analysis to track growth rates.

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 initial value

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

3. Importance of Percentage Increase Calculation

Details: Percentage increase is crucial for understanding growth rates in business metrics (sales, profits), investment returns, population changes, price changes, and performance improvements.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter both new and old values as positive numbers. The old value cannot be zero (division by zero is undefined). Values can be integers or decimals.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What's the difference between percentage increase and absolute increase?
A: Absolute increase is simply (New - Old), while percentage increase shows the change relative to the original value.

Q2: How do I interpret a negative percentage increase?
A: A negative result indicates a percentage decrease rather than an increase.

Q3: Why is percentage increase often more useful than absolute increase?
A: It provides context by showing change relative to the starting point, making comparisons between different scales meaningful.

Q4: Can percentage increase be more than 100%?
A: Yes, this means the value has more than doubled (new value is more than twice the old value).

Q5: What if my old value was zero?
A: Percentage change is undefined when starting from zero, as it would require division by zero.