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Percent Change Calculator

Find the percent increase or decrease from an old value to a new one.

Percent change
Old value first, new value second.

Change
+50%
Increase
Direction
25
Difference
1.5
New divided by old

Private: Everything runs in this page. Nothing you type is sent anywhere or saved.

On this page
  1. Percent change examples
  2. Formula
  3. How the percent change works
  4. What this tool does not do
  5. Frequently asked questions
  6. Related tools

Percent change examples

Old to newChange
50 to 75+50%
80 to 60-25%
200 to 250+25%
1 to 3+200%
100 to 1000%

Formula

change = (new - old) / |old| x 100

How the percent change works

  1. Step oneType the old value in the first box.
  2. Step twoType the new value in the second box.
  3. Step threeRead the change: a plus sign means an increase, a minus sign a decrease.

What this tool does not do

  • The starting value cannot be 0, because a change from zero has no percentage.
  • For a negative starting value the percent is worked out on its size, so read it with care.
  • It does not say whether a change is meaningful.

Frequently asked questions

Why is going up 50% and then down 50% not back to the start?

The second change is measured against a bigger number. 100 up 50% is 150, and 150 down 50% is 75.

What if the old value is zero?

A change from zero has no percentage, so the tool asks for a different old value.

How are negative numbers treated?

The change is divided by the size (absolute value) of the old number, so a move from -50 to -25 counts as an increase of 50%.