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 to track growth, inflation, performance improvements, and other changes over time.

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the percentage increase formula:

Where:

• New Value — The current or final measurement
• Old Value — The original or initial measurement

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

3. Importance of Percentage Increase

Details: Percentage increase is fundamental in business (sales growth), finance (investment returns), economics (inflation rates), and science (experimental results). It provides a standardized way to compare changes across different scales.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter both new and old values in the same units. The old value cannot be zero (division by zero is undefined). Negative values are acceptable if measuring decreases.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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

Q2: How do I calculate percentage decrease?
A: The same formula works - you'll get a negative result indicating decrease. Alternatively, you can report the absolute value as "decrease".

Q3: What if my old value was zero?
A: Percentage change is undefined when starting from zero, as you cannot divide by zero. Consider using absolute change instead.

Q4: Can percentage increase be over 100%?
A: Yes! A 100% increase means the value doubled. 200% means it tripled, etc.

Q5: How is this different from percentage points?
A: Percentage points measure absolute difference between percentages (e.g., 5% to 7% is a 2 percentage point increase, but 40% increase).