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, statistics, and everyday calculations to compare 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 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. Practical Applications

Details: Percentage increase is widely used in:

• Financial analysis (stock growth, price changes)
• Business metrics (sales growth, revenue increases)
• Academic research (population growth rates)
• Personal finance (salary increases, investment returns)

4. Using the Calculator

Tips:

• Enter both old and new values as positive numbers
• The old value cannot be zero (division by zero is undefined)
• Negative results indicate percentage decrease

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What's the difference between percentage increase and absolute increase?
A: Absolute increase is simply new value minus old value, while percentage increase shows the change relative to the original value.

Q2: How do I interpret a negative percentage increase?
A: A negative result means the value has decreased rather than increased.

Q3: What if my old value was zero?
A: Percentage change from zero is undefined because you can't divide by zero. Consider using absolute change instead.

Q4: How is this different from percentage points?
A: Percentage points measure absolute difference between percentages, while percentage increase measures relative change.

Q5: Can I calculate percentage decrease with this calculator?
A: Yes, when the new value is smaller than the old value, the result will be negative, indicating a percentage decrease.