Calculate the exact percentage increase or decrease between any two values. Enter the original and new value to instantly see the percentage change — works for price changes, salary adjustments, growth rates, and any before/after comparison.
The percentage change formula is ((New Value − Old Value) ÷ |Old Value|) × 100. The absolute value of the old value in the denominator ensures the formula works correctly even when values are negative. A positive result indicates an increase; a negative result indicates a decrease.
It's important to understand what percentage change measures: it expresses how much a value changed relative to its starting point, expressed as a percentage of that starting point. This makes it a relative measure, not an absolute one. A $10 increase on a $20 item (50% increase) represents a much more significant change than a $10 increase on a $1,000 item (1% increase), even though the absolute change is identical.
Percentage change is directional — the result depends on which value you designate as 'original' and which as 'new.' The change from $80 to $100 is +25%, but the change from $100 to $80 is −20%. These are different numbers because they represent different starting points.
Example 1 (Price increase): A product goes from $45 to $58. Change = (58−45)/45 × 100 = +28.89% increase. Absolute change: +$13.
Example 2 (Salary decrease): Salary drops from $72,000 to $65,000. Change = (65,000−72,000)/72,000 × 100 = −9.72% decrease. Absolute change: −$7,000.
Example 3 (Investment return): Portfolio goes from $15,000 to $23,500. Change = (23,500−15,000)/15,000 × 100 = +56.67% gain.
Common applications include: tracking price changes on products you buy regularly; calculating salary increases or decreases in job negotiations; measuring investment portfolio performance; analyzing business metrics like revenue growth or customer count changes; and comparing statistics in research or reporting. Always specify whether you're reporting an absolute change (dollars, units) or a relative change (percentage) to avoid ambiguity.
Percentage change measures the relative change from a starting value. Percentage points measure the absolute arithmetic difference between two percentages. If an interest rate goes from 3% to 4%, it increased by 1 percentage point but by 33.33% (relatively). This distinction is especially important in economics, polling, and finance reporting.
Yes. A 100% increase means the value doubled. A 200% increase means it tripled. There is no upper limit on percentage increases. Percentage decreases, however, are bounded at −100% (the value reaches zero) for positive numbers.
CAGR = (Ending Value ÷ Beginning Value)^(1/years) − 1, expressed as a percentage. It represents the year-over-year growth rate that would take you from the beginning value to the ending value over the specified period. It's useful for smoothing out year-to-year volatility to see underlying trends.
Annual salary increases typically range from 3–5% in stable economies, roughly matching or slightly exceeding inflation. A promotion or job change might warrant 10–20% or more. Research industry salary benchmarks from sources like Bureau of Labor Statistics, Glassdoor, or LinkedIn Salary to anchor your negotiation in market data.
Investment returns are typically expressed as percentage gains or losses. A stock bought at $50 and sold at $68 represents a 36% gain. Year-over-year revenue growth, earnings per share changes, and dividend yield changes are all percentage-based metrics used to evaluate investment quality.