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Percentage Change Calculator

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Calculate percentage change, absolute change, and CAGR between any two values.

Percentage Change—
Absolute Change—
Multiplier—
CAGR—
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To calculate percentage change, subtract the old value from the new value, divide by the old value and multiply by 100: going from 80 to 100 is a 25% increase. Enter both values below, and add a number of years to get the compound annual growth rate too.

What Is Percentage Change?

Percentage change measures how much a value has increased or decreased relative to its original:

Percentage Change = (New Value - Old Value) / |Old Value| × 100

Positive = increase. Negative = decrease.

Common Applications in Business

  • Revenue growth: "Revenue grew from $800k to $1M — what's the growth rate?" → 25%
  • Cost reduction: "Costs dropped from $50k to $40k — what's the savings %?" → 20%
  • Price changes: "We raised prices from $49 to $69 — by how much?" → 40.8%

CAGR vs Simple Percentage Change

For multi-year comparisons, Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) is more meaningful:

CAGR = (End Value / Start Value)^1 / n - 1

A revenue that grew from $1M to $2M over 5 years is a 100% total change, but only 14.87% CAGR.

Intent Pages

Worked example

Revenue goes from 80 to 100: (100 - 80) / 80 x 100 = +25%, an absolute change of 20. Going back from 100 to 80 is -20%, not -25%, because the base is now 100. Over 3 years, a rise from 100 to 150 is a 50% total change but a 14.47% CAGR. To apply a known change, 200 plus 15% is 230.

Frequently asked questions

How do you calculate percentage change? Subtract the old value from the new value, divide the result by the absolute value of the old value, and multiply by 100. A positive result is an increase and a negative one a decrease.

Why is a 25% increase not cancelled by a 25% decrease? Each percentage is measured from a different base. 80 up 25% is 100, but 100 down 25% is 75; it takes a 20% decrease to get back to 80.

What is the difference between percentage change and percentage points? Percentage points are the plain gap between two percentages: a conversion rate moving from 4% to 5% is up 1 percentage point, which is a 25% percentage change.

How do you find the new value after a percentage increase? Multiply the old value by 1 plus the change as a decimal: 200 x 1.15 = 230 for a 15% increase.

Can you calculate percentage change from zero? No. Dividing by a starting value of zero is undefined, so the calculator returns no result; use the absolute change instead.

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Percentage Change Formula and Examples

The percentage change formula is (New − Old) ÷ |Old| × 100. It measures how much a value has increased or decreased relative to its original, expressed as a percentage.

The percentage change formula is one of the most fundamental calculations in business and finance.

Percentage Change = (New Value - Old Value) / |Old Value| × 100

Step-by-Step Examples

Example 1: Revenue increase Revenue grew from $800,000 to $1,000,000. - Change = $1,000,000 − $800,000 = $200,000 - Percentage change = $200,000 ÷ $800,000 × 100 = +25%

Example 2: Cost reduction Marketing spend dropped from $50,000 to $38,000. - Change = $38,000 − $50,000 = −$12,000 - Percentage change = −$12,000 ÷ $50,000 × 100 = −24%

Example 3: Price increase Product price raised from $49 to $69. - Change = $69 − $49 = $20 - Percentage change = $20 ÷ $49 × 100 = +40.8%

Using Absolute Value in the Denominator

The formula uses |Old Value| (absolute value) in the denominator. This is important when the old value is negative: if last year's profit was −$100k and this year it's −$60k, the percentage improvement is (−60k − (−100k)) ÷ 100k = +40%, not −40%.

Percentage Change vs Percentage Points

These are not the same: - Conversion rate moved from 4% to 5% — that's a 1 percentage point increase but a 25% relative increase - Always clarify which you mean to avoid misinterpretation in reporting

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What Is CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate)?

CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) is the mean annual growth rate of an investment or business metric over a period longer than one year, assuming growth compounded annually.

CAGR smooths out year-to-year volatility and expresses multi-year growth as a single annual rate.

CAGR = (End Value / Start Value)^1 / n - 1

where n is the number of years.

Why CAGR Is Better Than Simple Average

Suppose a metric grew: Year 1 +50%, Year 2 −33%, Year 3 +50%. - Simple average growth: (+50 − 33 + 50) ÷ 3 = +22.3% - Actual result: 1.5 × 0.67 × 1.5 = 1.507 — a 50.7% gain over 3 years - CAGR: 1.507^(1/3) − 1 = 14.7% (more accurate)

CAGR in Practice

  • ARR CAGR: "We grew from $1M to $4M ARR in 3 years — what's our CAGR?" → 58.7%
  • Revenue benchmark: T2D3 (Triple-Triple-Double-Double-Double) implies a ~40% 5-year CAGR from $1M ARR
  • Investment return: "I invested $100k in 2019 and it's worth $200k in 2024 — what's my annual return?" → 14.87% CAGR

CAGR Limitations

CAGR assumes smooth, steady compounding — it masks volatility. A company that grew 200% one year and shrank 50% the next has a CAGR of 0% but went on a dramatic ride. Always accompany CAGR with annual growth data to show the full picture.

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