1. What is Percentage Increase?

Percentage increase measures the relative growth from an original (old) value to a new value, expressed as a percentage of the original value. 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 values, divides by the original to get relative change, then converts to 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 old and new values in the same units. Values must be positive numbers. The calculator handles both whole numbers and decimals.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What if my old value is zero?
A: Percentage change is undefined when the old value is zero, as division by zero is impossible. In such cases, consider absolute change instead.

Q2: How is percentage decrease calculated?
A: The same formula works - a decrease will simply result in a negative percentage value.

Q3: What's the difference between percentage points and percent?
A: Percentage points measure absolute difference between percentages (e.g., 5% to 7% is a 2 percentage point increase), while percent change is relative (40% increase in this case).

Q4: Can I calculate compound percentage increases?
A: This calculator shows simple increase. For compound growth over multiple periods, you'd need a different formula accounting for each period's change.

Q5: How precise are the results?
A: Results are rounded to 2 decimal places. For most practical purposes, this provides sufficient precision.