1. What is Percentage Change?

Percentage change measures the degree of change over time. It's used to compare the difference between an old and new value, expressed as a percentage of the old value. This calculation is fundamental in finance, economics, and business to track price movements, growth rates, and performance metrics.

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the percentage change formula:

Where:

• New Price — The current or ending value
• Old Price — The original or starting value

Explanation: The formula calculates the difference between new and old values as a proportion of the old value, then converts it to a percentage by multiplying by 100.

3. Importance of Percentage Change

Details: Percentage change is crucial for understanding price movements, inflation rates, investment returns, sales growth, and many other financial metrics. It provides a standardized way to compare changes across different scales and magnitudes.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips:

• Enter both prices in the same currency
• Old price must be greater than zero
• Positive result indicates price increase
• Negative result indicates price decrease

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What does a negative percentage change mean?
A: A negative result indicates a decrease in value from the old price to the new price.

Q2: How do I interpret a 0% change?
A: A 0% change means there was no difference between the old and new prices.

Q3: Why can't the old price be zero?
A: Division by zero is mathematically undefined, so the calculation requires a non-zero old price.

Q4: Can I use this for non-price calculations?
A: Yes, the formula works for any quantitative values where you want to measure relative change.

Q5: How is this different from percentage difference?
A: Percentage change compares new to old value, while percentage difference compares any two values without reference to which is older.