Percentage Change Formula:
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Percentage change measures the relative difference between an old value and a new value, expressed as a percentage. It's commonly used in finance, economics, statistics, and various analytical fields to track growth, decline, or variation over time.
The calculator uses the percentage change formula:
Where:
Explanation: A positive percentage indicates an increase, while a negative percentage indicates a decrease. The result shows how much the value has changed relative to the original value.
Details: Percentage change is essential for analyzing trends, comparing performance, making investment decisions, tracking growth rates, and understanding market fluctuations across various industries and applications.
Tips: Enter both old and new values as unitless numbers. The old value cannot be zero (division by zero is undefined). Values can be positive or negative depending on your data context.
Q1: What does a negative percentage change mean?
A: A negative percentage change indicates a decrease or reduction from the old value to the new value.
Q2: Can I use this for financial calculations?
A: Yes, this calculator is commonly used for stock price changes, revenue growth, profit margins, and other financial metrics.
Q3: What if my old value is zero?
A: Percentage change cannot be calculated when the old value is zero, as it would involve division by zero, which is mathematically undefined.
Q4: How is percentage change different from percentage points?
A: Percentage change measures relative change from an original value, while percentage points measure absolute difference between two percentages.
Q5: Can I calculate percentage decrease with this calculator?
A: Yes, the calculator automatically shows negative percentages for decreases, making it suitable for both increase and decrease calculations.