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:

• \( \text{Number1} \) — Original value
• \( \text{Number2} \) — New value

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

3. Practical Applications

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

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter the original number and the new number. The original number cannot be zero (division by zero is undefined). The calculator handles both positive and negative values.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What if the percentage increase is negative?
A: A negative result indicates a percentage decrease rather than an increase.

Q2: How is this different from percentage points?
A: Percentage increase measures relative change, while percentage points measure absolute difference between percentages.

Q3: What's the maximum percentage increase possible?
A: There's no theoretical maximum. A value increasing from 1 to 2 is a 100% increase, from 1 to 3 is 200%, etc.

Q4: How do I calculate percentage decrease?
A: The same formula works - you'll get a negative result indicating decrease. Alternatively, reverse the numbers to get a positive decrease percentage.

Q5: Why is the original number in the denominator?
A: This normalizes the change relative to the starting point, allowing meaningful comparisons between different scales.