Percentage Increase Formula:
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Percentage increase measures how much a quantity has grown relative to its original value, expressed as a percentage. It's commonly used in finance, economics, statistics, and everyday life to track growth or expansion.
The calculator uses the percentage increase formula:
Where:
Explanation: The formula calculates the difference between the new and old values, divides by the old value to get the relative change, then multiplies by 100 to convert to a percentage.
Details: Percentage increase is crucial for understanding growth rates in business (sales, profits), investments (stock prices, returns), population studies, and performance metrics. It provides a standardized way to compare changes across different scales.
Tips: Enter both new and old values as positive numbers. The old value cannot be zero (division by zero is undefined). Results are rounded to 2 decimal places.
Q1: What's the difference between percentage increase and absolute increase?
A: Absolute increase is simply (New - Old), while percentage increase shows the change relative to the original value, making comparisons easier.
Q2: How do I interpret negative percentage increase?
A: A negative result indicates a percentage decrease rather than increase.
Q3: What if my old value was negative?
A: The calculator works with negative values, but interpretation depends on context. A positive result when going from negative to positive indicates improvement.
Q4: Why is percentage increase useful in business?
A: It allows comparison of growth across different departments, products, or time periods regardless of their base sizes.
Q5: Can percentage increase be more than 100%?
A: Yes, this means the value has more than doubled (e.g., from 100 to 250 is a 150% increase).