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Percentage Change Calculator

Find the Percent Increase or Percent Decrease and Rate of Change between two numbers

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Percent Change Calculator


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Formula for Percent Change from one number to another

The formula for Percent change


Percent Change = ((Final Value - Initial Value) / Initial Value) * 100%

This formula can be used to calculate the percent change of any two values, regardless of their units.

You can use it to calculate the percent change of a population, a stock price, or a temperature as per examples below:

  • Example for Percent Increase in Population Growth in the World

    Population in 2021 = 788 crores

    Population in 2022 = 800 crores

    Percentage increase = 800-788 / 788 * 100 = + 1.52 % increase


  • Example for Percent decrease of a Company Growth after one year

    Growth in starting year = 100

    Growth after one year = 90

    Percentage decrease = 90-100 / 100 * 100 = - 10 % decrease


  • Example for Percent Change from negative to positive

    Previous value = -5

    New value = 2

    Percentage increase = 2 -- 5 / -5 * 100 = 140 % increase


  • Example for Percent Change for Fraction

    Previous value = 1/4

    New value = 1/2

    Percentage increase = (1/2)-(1/4) / (1/4) * 100 = 100 % increase


  • Example for Percent change from 0 to 1, 0 to any number

    Anything divided by 0 is undefined or infinity. In practical terms, it means 100% increase


  • Example to find new value using old value and percentage change

    Previous score = 700

    Percentage increase = 12%

    new value = 700 + 700 * 12/100 = 784 increase


  • Example to find old value using new value and percentage change

    new value = 100

    percentage = 25

    old value = 100 - (100 * 25 / 100) = 75

Find Initial Value or Final Value given Percent Change

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Here are the generic formulas to find initial value or final value given percent change:


To find the initial value:

Initial Value = Final Value / (1 + (Percent Change / 100))

To find the final value:

Final Value = Initial Value * (1 + (Percent Change / 100))

In these formulas, Percent Change is the percent change expressed as a decimal. For example, if the percent change is 20%, then you would use 0.2 in the formula.

Percent Change: The Math Behind the Change

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Interpreting Percent Change
A positive percent change indicates an increase, while a negative percent change indicates a decrease.
For example, if the price of a stock increases from $10 to $12, the percent change is 20%. This means that the price of the stock has increased by 20% relative to its initial value of $10.
Applications of Percent Change
Percent change is a versatile tool with numerous applications in various fields:
  • Finance: Percent change is used to track the performance of stocks, bonds, and other investments. It is also used to measure inflation, interest rates, and currency exchange rates.
  • Economics: Percent change is used to analyze economic indicators such as GDP growth, unemployment rates, and consumer spending. It is also used to compare economic performance across countries and time periods.
  • Science: Percent change is used to measure changes in scientific variables, such as temperature, pressure, and concentration. It is also used to interpret experimental results and make comparisons.
  • Everyday Life: Percent change is used in everyday situations, such as comparing prices, tracking weight loss or gain, and calculating discounts.
Significance of Percent Change
Percent change is a valuable tool for understanding relative changes and making comparisons. It allows us to quantify the magnitude of change and assess trends over time. Percent change is also useful for communicating changes in a clear and concise manner.

Percent Change vs Rate of Change

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  • The terms "percent change" and "rate of change" are often used interchangeably, but they have distinct meanings in statistics and mathematics.
  • Percent change is a measure of the relative change in a value over a certain period. It is calculated as the difference between the final value and the initial value, divided by the initial value, and then multiplied by 100% to express the result as a percentage.
  • Rate of change, on the other hand, is a measure of how quickly a value is changing over time. It is typically expressed in units per unit of time, such as kilometers per hour, dollars per year, or degrees Fahrenheit per minute.
Here's a table summarizing the key differences between percent change and rate of change:
FeaturePercent ChangeRate of Change
DefinitionRelative change between two valuesSpeed at which something is changing
ExpressionPercentageUnits per unit of time
ApplicationComparing changes in different quantitiesUnderstanding how quickly something is changing
Examples
  • Percent change: The population of a city increased by 20% from 2010 to 2020.
  • Rate of change: The population of a city is increasing at a rate of 2% per year.
  • Percent change: The price of a stock increased by 10% from yesterday.
  • Rate of change: The price of a stock is increasing at a rate of $0.50 per day.
  • Percent change: The temperature increased by 5% from yesterday.
  • Rate of change: The temperature is increasing at a rate of 2 degrees Fahrenheit per hour.
Choosing the Right Measure
The choice between percent change and rate of change depends on the context and the specific information you want to convey.
  • Use percent change when you want to compare relative changes in different quantities. For example, you can use percent change to compare the population growth of two countries, the price increase of two stocks, or the temperature change in two cities.
  • Use rate of change when you want to understand how quickly something is changing over time. For example, you can use rate of change to determine the average speed of a car, the inflation rate of an economy, or the rate of population growth.

Percent Change Table

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Input Percent Change (% change)

Percent change from 1/4 to 1/2

+ 100%

Percent change from 2 to 1

- 50%

Percent change from 0 to 1

100% or infinity increase

Percent change from 1 to 2

+ 100%

Percent change from 4 to 7

+ 75%

Percent change from 4 to 3

- 25%

Percent change from 4 to 5

+ 25%

Percent change from 2 to 3

+ 50%

Percent change from 8 to 10

+ 25%

Percent change from 12 to 15

+ 25%

Percent change from 10 to 3

- 70%

Percent change from 10 to 24

+ 140%

Percent change from 100 to 80

- 20%

Percent change from 15 to 18

+ 20%

Percent change from 2/5 to 4/5

+ 100%

Percent change from 2 to 1.6

- 20%

Percent change from 8 to 2

- 75%

Percent change from 3/8 to 7/8

+ 133.333%

Percent change from 3 to 30

+ 900%

Percent change from 4/5 to 3/5

- 25%

Percent change from 40 to 60

+ 50%

Percent change from 40 to 20

- 50%

Percent change from 4 to 1

- 75%

Percent change from 50 to 35

- 30%

Percent change from 5 to 9

+ 80%

Percent change from 50 to 22

- 56%

Percent change from 8 to 6

- 25%

Percent change from 6 to 36

+ 500%

Percent change from 4 to 6

+ 50%

Percent change from 10 to 9

- 10%

Percent change from 19 to 9

- 52.6316%

Percent change from 6 to 9

+ 50%

Percent change from 10 to 8

- 20%

Percent change from 5 to 8

+ 60%

Percent change from 4 to 7

+ 75%

Percent change from 5 to 7

+ 40%

Percent change from 2/7 to 4/7

+ 100%

Frequently Asked Questions on Percentage Change Calculator

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  • Percentage change is calculated as the difference between 2 values divided by the old value and multiplied by 100.

  • Percentage change from 1 to 3 = (3-1 / 1) x 100 = 200% change

  • Not exactly. Rate of change is always with respect to time. Percent change is just change from old to new. The formula to compute the change from old to new is the same

  • Percent Change = + (New Value - Previous Value / Previous Value * 100)

  • Percent Change = - (New Value - Previous Value / Previous Value * 100)

  • + 33.33333% increase

  • - 16.66667% decrease

  • new value = (previous value * 20 / 100) + previous value

  • previous value = new value - (new value * 10 / 100)

  • 532

  • 4,20,000