Use this Percent Change Calculator to quickly find the percentage increase or decrease between two values. Whether you're calculating changes in prices, data, or sales, this tool simplifies it by showing the percentage change in easy steps.
What Is Percent Change?
Percent change measures how much a value has increased or decreased over a specific time period. It's commonly used in business, finance, education, and everyday calculations.
Percent Change Formula
The percent change formula (also known as the percentage change formula) is:
Percent Change = (|New Value - Original Value| ÷ Original Value) × 100The formula uses the absolute value of the initial number to ensure that the result is always positive when calculating the size of change.
How to Calculate Percentage Increase and Decrease
You can calculate:
- Percentage Increase: When the new value is greater than the original number or original price.
- Percentage Decrease: When the new value is less than the original value.
Percentage Increase Example:
If the original price was $100 and it increased to $120:
- Change = 120 - 100 = 20
- Divide by original: 20 ÷ 100 = 0.2 (a fraction of 100)
- Multiply the result by 100 (or times 100) = 20%
- This is a percent increase of 20%.
Percentage Decrease Example:
If a value drops from 80 to 60:
- Change = 80 - 60 = 20
- Divide by original: 20 ÷ 80 = 0.25
- Multiplied by 100 = 25%
- This is a percent decrease of 25%.
When to Use This Calculator
Use this calculator or the increase calculator when you need to:
- Compare past and current values over a time period
- Calculate percentage increase or percentage decrease in prices, revenue, or scores
- Work with original numbers and new values to assess change
- Perform quick math using the increase formula or try our dedicated increase calculator
Need to Calculate Only Increases?
Try our Increase Calculator to focus just on percentage growth based on your starting value.
FAQ
What is the difference between percent change and percentage difference?
Percent change compares a new value to an original number, while percentage difference compares two values without focusing on which one came first.
Why do we multiply the result by 100?
Because the result of the division step is a fraction of 100, we multiply the result by 100 (or times 100) to convert it into a percentage.