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 value
• Old Value — The original or starting value

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

3. Practical Applications

Details: Percentage increase is used in finance (investment returns, price changes), business (sales growth), demography (population growth), and science (experimental results).

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter both old and new values as positive numbers. The old value must be greater than zero. Results are rounded to 2 decimal places.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What if my old value is zero?
A: Percentage increase is undefined when old value is zero (division by zero). Use absolute difference instead.

Q2: How is this different from percentage difference?
A: Percentage increase compares new to old value only, while percentage difference compares any two values symmetrically.

Q3: What does a negative result mean?
A: A negative result indicates a percentage decrease rather than increase.

Q4: How do I interpret a 100% increase?
A: A 100% increase means the value has doubled (become twice as large as the original).

Q5: Can I use this for percentage change between any two numbers?
A: Yes, though if new value is smaller, you'll get a negative result (decrease).