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 in finance, economics, statistics, and everyday life to compare growth rates.

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 initial value

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.

3. Practical Applications

Details: Percentage increase is used in:

• Financial analysis (stock growth, price changes)
• Business metrics (sales growth, revenue increase)
• Population studies
• Scientific measurements
• Performance tracking

4. Using the Calculator

Tips:

• Enter both new and old values as positive numbers
• The old value cannot be zero (division by zero is undefined)
• Negative results indicate a percentage decrease
• Results are rounded to 2 decimal places

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What's the difference between percentage increase and absolute increase?
A: Absolute increase is the simple difference (New - Old), while percentage increase shows the relative change compared to the original value.

Q2: How do I interpret a negative percentage increase?
A: A negative result means the value has decreased rather than increased (percentage decrease).

Q3: What if my old value was zero?
A: Percentage change is undefined when the old value is zero, as you cannot divide by zero.

Q4: How is this different from percentage points?
A: Percentage points measure absolute difference between percentages, while percentage increase measures relative change.

Q5: Can I calculate percentage decrease with this calculator?
A: Yes, when the new value is smaller than the old value, the result will be negative, indicating a percentage decrease.