Key takeaways
- What a percentage increase tells you
- What is percentage increase?
- The percentage increase formula
- How to calculate percentage increase step by step
To calculate percentage increase, subtract the original value from the new value, divide that difference by the original value, and multiply by 100. Percentage increase = [(New value − Original value) ÷ Original value] × 100. A price that rises from $80 to $100 went up by 25%. The original value has to be positive for an ordinary growth comparison.
Jump to a section1 / 14
What a percentage increase tells you
Percentage increase shows how much a number grew relative to where it started. It's handy for anything that changes: a pay raise, a price tag, monthly sales, or website traffic.
Take a product that goes from $80 to $100. The increase is $20, but as a share of the starting price it's 25%.
This guide covers the formula, a step-by-step method, worked examples, Excel and Google Sheets versions, and the mistakes that trip people up most.
What is percentage increase?
Percentage increase measures how much a value has grown compared with its original value, written as a percentage.
Absolute change tells you how many units were added. Percentage increase tells you how big that change is relative to the starting point, which makes different-sized numbers easier to compare. In each of these cases, it's the size of the change relative to the number you started with that matters:
- A product price increases from $50 to $60.
- A monthly salary rises from $3,000 to $3,300.
- Website visitors increase from 1,000 to 1,500.
- A business grows its monthly sales from 200 to 250 orders.
The percentage increase formula
The standard formula is:
Percentage Increase = [(New Value − Original Value) ÷ Original Value] × 100
For ordinary growth calculations, the original value should be greater than zero.
The parts are:
- Original Value: The starting amount before the increase.
- New Value: The final amount after the increase.
- New Value − Original Value: The difference between the two amounts.
A simple example
Say a product's original price is $200 and its new price is $250.
First, find the difference: $250 − $200 = $50.
Next, divide the increase by the original price: $50 ÷ $200 = 0.25.
Finally, multiply by 100: 0.25 × 100 = 25%.
Result: the price increased by 25%, so the product now costs 25% more than it did before.
How to calculate percentage increase step by step
You can do it by hand in four steps.
Step 1: Identify the Original Value
Start with the amount you began with.
Suppose your website got 2,000 visitors last month. Your original value is 2,000.
Step 2: Identify the New Value
Next, find the updated amount.
Suppose the site got 2,800 visitors this month. Your new value is 2,800.
Step 3: Calculate the Difference
Subtract the original amount from the new one.
2,800 − 2,000 = 800
That's 800 additional visitors.
Step 4: Convert the Increase into a Percentage
Divide the increase by the original value, then multiply by 100.
(800 ÷ 2,000) × 100 = 40%
Your traffic grew by 40%. Comparisons like this work best when the two periods and the way you measured them are comparable.
Percentage increase examples
Here are several everyday cases worked through with the same formula.
Example 1: Salary increase
Suppose your monthly salary goes from $2,500 to $3,000.
Percentage Increase = [(3,000 − 2,500) ÷ 2,500] × 100
= (500 ÷ 2,500) × 100
= 20%
Your salary rose by 20%. The same method works for raises, bonuses, and other changes in regular earnings.
Example 2: Price increase
A product that used to cost $120 now costs $150.
Percentage Increase = [(150 − 120) ÷ 120] × 100
= (30 ÷ 120) × 100
= 25%
The price went up by 25%. Shoppers and retailers can use the formula to size up any price change.
Example 3: Sales growth
A business sells 400 products in January and 550 in February.
Percentage Increase = [(550 − 400) ÷ 400] × 100
= (150 ÷ 400) × 100
= 37.5%
Units sold rose by 37.5%. That doesn't mean revenue or profit rose by the same percentage.
Example 4: Website traffic growth
Suppose a blog gets 5,000 monthly visits and later reaches 7,500.
Percentage Increase = [(7,500 − 5,000) ÷ 5,000] × 100
= (2,500 ÷ 5,000) × 100
= 50%
Monthly visits grew by 50%. Site owners can use this to track changes from search, social media, and other channels.
Example 5: Population increase
A town's population grows from 20,000 to 23,000 people.
Percentage Increase = [(23,000 − 20,000) ÷ 20,000] × 100
= (3,000 ÷ 20,000) × 100
= 15%
The population grew by 15%.
Percentage increase quick-reference table
This table gives quick examples of common percentage changes.
The same formula works for prices, salaries, sales, traffic, and anything else you can measure.
| Original Value | New Value | Percentage Increase |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 110 | 10% |
| 200 | 250 | 25% |
| 500 | 600 | 20% |
| 1,000 | 1,500 | 50% |
| 2,000 | 2,400 | 20% |
| 5,000 | 6,250 | 25% |
| 10,000 | 12,000 | 20% |
How to calculate percentage increase in Excel
Excel is the easy route when you have a lot of numbers to work through. With the original value in A2 and the new value in B2 (the cells listed below), enter this formula in C2:
=(B2-A2)/A2
Then format cell C2 as a percentage, and Excel shows 25%.
You can also use:
=((B2-A2)/A2)*100
That returns the plain number 25. If you use this version, don't also apply percentage formatting, or the cell will display 2,500%. The first version is usually more convenient in a spreadsheet.
The example worksheet uses these cells:
- Cell A2: Original value of 200
- Cell B2: New value of 250
Percentage increase in Google Sheets
Google Sheets uses the same formula:
=(B2-A2)/A2
Enter it, select the result cell, and apply percentage formatting.
Copy the formula down a column to calculate changes for many products, months, or employees at once.
How to find a new value after a percentage increase
Sometimes you already know the percentage and want the new amount. Use this formula:
New Value = Original Value × (1 + Percentage Increase ÷ 100)
For example, say your salary is $4,000 and you get a 15% raise.
New Salary = 4,000 × (1 + 15 ÷ 100)
= 4,000 × 1.15
= $4,600
Your new salary is $4,600. The same approach works for estimating new prices, budgets, and projected quantities.
Percentage increase vs. percentage decrease
Percentage increase describes growth and percentage decrease describes a drop. Both compare the change with the original value.
Suppose a price falls from $100 to $80.
Percentage Decrease = [(100 − 80) ÷ 100] × 100
= 20%
The price decreased by 20%.
Reversing that decrease takes a different percentage, because the base is now smaller. To raise $80 back to $100:
[(100 − 80) ÷ 80] × 100 = 25%
So a 20% decrease followed by a 20% increase doesn't bring you back to the original number.
Percentage increase vs. percentage points
These two ideas are easy to mix up.
Suppose a website's conversion rate goes from 5% to 8%. The change in percentage points is:
8% − 5% = 3 percentage points.
The relative percentage increase is:
[(8 − 5) ÷ 5] × 100 = 60%.
So the rate rose by 3 percentage points, which is a 60% relative increase.
The distinction matters whenever the values are already percentages, such as interest rates, conversion rates, and survey results.
Common mistakes when calculating percentage increase
These are the errors that show up most often.
Dividing by the New Value
The most common mistake is dividing the difference by the new value instead of the original.
If a price goes from $100 to $125, the correct calculation is (25 ÷ 100) × 100 = 25%.
Dividing by $125 gives 20%, which answers a different question.
Forgetting to Multiply by 100
The formula gives you a decimal first, so don't stop there.
For example, 0.30 means 30%, not 0.30%.
Using Zero as the Starting Value
If the original value is zero, the standard formula is undefined because you can't divide by zero.
A jump from zero sales to 100 sales can't be written as an ordinary percentage increase.
In that case, report the absolute change instead.
Applying the Formula to Negative Starting Values Without Context
Percentage change gets tricky when the original value is negative.
A business that moves from a $100 loss to a $50 loss has improved, but the standard growth formula can mislead you if you ignore what the negative numbers mean.
For losses and other signed values, state the absolute change and say clearly which percentage convention you're using.
Why percentage increase matters
Percentage increase lets you compare changes across different starting amounts.
Say one business gains 500 customers and another gains 100.
If the first started with 10,000 customers, its growth rate is 5%. If the second started with 200, its growth rate is 50%.
The first business added more customers, but the second grew far faster relative to its size.
A percentage on its own doesn't tell you whether a change is profitable, sustainable, or statistically meaningful, so keep the underlying numbers in view.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the easiest way to calculate percentage increase?
Subtract the original value from the new value, divide by the original value, and multiply by 100.
How do you calculate a 10% increase?
Multiply the original value by 1.10. For example, increasing $200 by 10% gives $220.
How do you calculate a 50% increase?
Multiply the original amount by 1.50. For example, a 50% increase on $100 gives $150.
How do you calculate percentage increase between two numbers?
Use this formula:
Percentage Increase = [(New Number − Original Number) ÷ Original Number] × 100.
The original number can't be zero, and ordinary growth calculations assume it's positive.
How do I calculate percentage increase without a calculator?
Find the difference between the two amounts, divide it by the original amount, and convert the result to a percentage. With easy numbers, you can also work out 10% or 1% of the starting value and use those pieces to estimate the change.
Is percentage increase the same as growth rate?
For a simple comparison between two values over one period, yes, the percentage increase can serve as the growth rate. Annualized growth rates and compound annual growth rates need additional calculations.
The short version
Percentage increase is the change divided by where you started, times 100.
Percentage Increase = [(New Value − Original Value) ÷ Original Value] × 100
Pick the right original value, apply the formula the same way each time, and your results will hold up.
For repeated calculations, a spreadsheet or an interactive percentage increase calculator saves time and cuts down on manual errors.
Sources and further reading
Examples are hypothetical unless explicitly stated. Verify current rules and contract terms for your situation. Read the full disclaimer.
Save the guide, collect the missing evidence, and revisit your numbers before committing.
