1. What is Percentage Change?

Percentage change measures the degree of change over time and is expressed as a percentage. It's used to compare the change in a quantity's value relative to its original value.

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 how much a value has changed relative to its original amount. 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 many scientific fields to measure growth rates, price changes, performance improvements, and other comparative metrics.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter the original (old) value and the new value. The old value cannot be zero. The calculator will show the percentage change and indicate whether it's an increase or decrease.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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

Q2: Why can't the old value be zero?
A: Division by zero is mathematically undefined, so percentage change cannot be calculated when the original value is zero.

Q3: How is percentage change different from percentage difference?
A: Percentage change compares a new value to an old value from the same item, while percentage difference compares two distinct values.

Q4: What are common applications of percentage change?
A: Common uses include tracking stock price changes, measuring sales growth, calculating inflation rates, and analyzing scientific data.

Q5: How do I interpret a percentage change from 50 to 75?
A: This would be a 50% increase, calculated as (75-50)/50 × 100 = 50%.