Enter the original and new values to see the percentage change. Works for prices, traffic, revenue, grades, and more.
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Percentage change calculates the relative difference between an old value and a new value. It is determined by subtracting the original value from the new value, dividing the result by the absolute original value, and multiplying by 100. Positive results indicate a percentage increase, while negative results represent a percentage decrease or reduction.
Find the % increase or decrease in seconds
Formula:
Percentage Change = ((New − Original) ÷ Original) × 100To find how much a value increased or decreased, subtract the original from the new value, divide by the original, then multiply by 100. It’s the most direct way to measure relative change.
Percentage Change = ((New − Original) ÷ Original) × 100
When the result is positive, it’s a growth. When it’s negative, it’s a drop. You can also check the increase calculator or decrease calculator for specialized cases.
You can calculate percentage change instantly in any spreadsheet:
Formula: =(B2-A2)/A2 then format as %.
Safe version: =IF(A2=0,"",(B2-A2)/A2)
To find what percent one number is of another, try the Percentage of a Number Calculator.
Example: a product goes from $48 to $57.60.
The price increased by 20%. You can also find new values directly with our percent increase tool.
Tip: Use New = Original × (1 + %Change). For a 12% increase on 250, that’s 280.
A 50% drop followed by a 50% rise doesn’t get you back to even. If a stock falls from 100 to 50 (−50%) and then rises 50%, it ends at 75. That’s the asymmetry of relative change.
To compare two values directly without baselines, check the Percentage Difference Calculator.
Price increase: $100 to $125
Result: 25% increase
Visitors drop: 1,000 to 800
Result: 20% decrease
Revenue growth: $80,000 to $100,000
Result: 25% increase
Grade improvement: 72 to 90
Result: 25% increase
Decimal shift: 120.5 to 118.2
Result: 1.91% decrease
Large expansion: 40 to 120
Result: 200% increase
Population decline: 2,000 to 1,900
Result: 5% decrease
Stock price gain: 50 to 55
Result: 10% increase
Inventory reduction: 500 to 450
Result: 10% decrease
Salary hike: 5,000 to 5,500
Result: 10% increase
Distance change: 200km to 250km
Result: 25% increase
Weight loss: 80kg to 72kg
Result: 10% decrease
Subscriber growth: 10,000 to 11,200
Result: 12% increase
Profit margin change: 20% to 25%
Result: 25% increase in relative value
Temperature drop: 30°C to 24°C
Result: 20% decrease
Subtract the original value from the new value, divide by the original, then multiply by 100. Example: (125 − 100) ÷ 100 × 100 = 25%.
Percentage Change = ((New − Original) ÷ Original) × 100. Positive is increase, negative is decrease.
Use =(B2−A2)/A2 and format as %. Or =(B2/A2)−1. Example: original in A2, new in B2.
Yes, but interpret carefully. The formula uses the original value as the baseline, so direction and magnitude follow that sign.
Percentage change compares a value to its own starting point ((New−Original)/Original). Percentage difference compares two values relative to their average (|A−B| / ((A+B)/2)).
Use the same formula ((New−Original)/Original). The sign follows the original baseline. For example, −100 to −50 is a +50% change relative to −100.
Use =(B2−A2)/A2 and format as %. To avoid #DIV/0!, wrap with =IF(A2=0, "", (B2−A2)/A2).
Mixing units, dividing by the wrong baseline, using the wrong sign with negatives, averaging percentage changes arithmetically instead of using compounding.
Percentage change is a dimensionless measure of the relative variation between two points in time or states. The formula uses the absolute value of the original number in the denominator to ensure correct directional signs for negative transitions. It is widely used in finance to track ROI, in economics for inflation, and in data science for trend analysis. A 100% change represents a doubling of the original value, while a -50% change represents a halving.
As the difference between the new and old values increases, the percentage change grows linearly. The metric is highly sensitive to small changes when the original value is small, often leading to large percentage swings. Conversely, larger original values require significant absolute changes to move the percentage significantly.
Ready to explore more percentage tools?
Try the Percentage Increase, Percentage Decrease, or Percentage Difference calculators — or view all calculators for more quick tools.
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