1. What is Percentage Change?

Percentage change measures the degree of change over time. It expresses the change between an old value and a new value as a percentage of the old value, showing whether the change is an increase or decrease.

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the percentage change formula:

Where:

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

Explanation: The formula calculates the relative change between two values. A positive result indicates an increase, while a negative result indicates a decrease.

3. Importance of Percentage Change

Details: Percentage change is widely used in finance, economics, statistics, and general data analysis to compare changes over time, assess growth rates, and make meaningful comparisons between different sized datasets.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter both old and new values. The old value cannot be zero (division by zero is undefined). The calculator will show both the magnitude and direction (increase/decrease) of the change.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What does a negative percentage change mean?
A: A negative percentage change indicates a decrease from the old value to the new value.

Q2: How do I interpret a percentage change from 50 to 75?
A: This is a 50% increase (75-50=25, 25/50=0.5, 0.5×100=50%).

Q3: What if my old value is zero?
A: Percentage change is undefined when the old value is zero, as it would require division by zero.

Q4: What's the difference between percentage change and percentage points?
A: Percentage change measures relative change, while percentage points measure absolute difference between percentages (e.g., 5% to 7% is a 2 percentage point increase but a 40% increase).

Q5: Can percentage change be more than 100%?
A: Yes, when the new value is more than double the old value, the percentage change exceeds 100%.