Percentage Increase Calculator

This percentage increase calculator instantly determines the percentage growth from one numerical value to another. It is highly versatile and can also be used as a dedicated growth rate calculator or a price increase calculator for your financial and business needs.

Directions for use

• To calculate the percentage increase, enter the Starting Value and the Final Value into their respective fields and click "Calculate."
• You can also press "Enter" on your keyboard to instantly run the calculation.
• The calculator accepts both whole numbers and decimals as inputs.
• The input numbers can be either positive or negative.
• If you need to calculate the percentage increase for fractions, you must first convert the fraction to a decimal.
• Please note that if you enter a fraction directly into one of the input fields, the calculator will automatically ignore everything after the fraction bar. For example, if you enter "4/5," the calculator will only process the "4."

Calculating percentage increase

The percentage increase can be calculated by following these simple steps:

1. Calculate the raw increase by subtracting the starting value from the final value:

Increase = Final Value – Starting Value

2. Divide this increase by the absolute value of the starting value to get the decimal expression of the change:

Decimal Increase = Increase /|Starting Value|

3. Finally, multiply the decimal increase by 100 to find the total percentage increase:

Percentage Increase = Decimal Increase × 100

These steps can be combined into a single, comprehensive percentage increase formula:

Percentage Increase = ((Final Value - Starting Value) /|Starting Value|) × 100

Note that in step 1 of the algorithm, and in the numerator of the percentage increase formula, you use the exact numbers given, including their positive or negative signs. However, in step 2, and in the denominator of the formula, you must use the absolute value of the starting number.

Because of this, there is a chance that your final Percentage Increase value will be negative. This happens when the starting value is greater than the final value, indicating that the change is actually a percentage decrease rather than an increase. In such cases, the calculator will correctly report it as a percentage decrease. For the purpose of this explanation, however, we will focus on scenarios where the final value exceeds the starting value.

Example

For example, let’s calculate the percentage increase from -10 to 68.

In this case:

Starting Value = -10

Final Value = 68

|Starting value| = |-10| = 10

Following the solution steps above, we get:

Increase = 68 – (-10) = 78

Decimal Increase = 78/|-10|= 78/10 = 7.8

Percentage increase = 7.8 × 100 = 780%

Alternatively, using the exact percentage formula, we can calculate the answer as follows:

Percentage increase = [{68 – (-10)} / 10] × 100 = 780%

The percentage change from -10 to 68 is a 780% increase.

Calculation examples

Growth rate

Monitoring your growth rate is essential for evaluating the success and development of any business. Different companies track various metrics, such as revenue growth rate, user growth rate, and more. A growth rate over a specific time period is measured as a percentage and is mathematically identical to a percentage increase. Therefore, you can seamlessly use this percentage increase calculator to track business growth rates over any required timeframe.

Example 1. Calculating growth rate in terms of the company's revenue

Imagine you launched a small startup and need to generate a financial report to analyze your company's growth. Your business opened on March 1st and generated $1265.70 in revenue during its first month. By August, the monthly revenue had grown to $1879.30. Your initial goal was to achieve a 30% revenue growth rate within the first 6 months of operation. Did you hit your target?

Solution

Starting Value = $1265.70

Final Value = $1879.30

To determine whether you achieved your business goal, you need to calculate the revenue growth rate from March to August and compare it against your 30% target. Since the growth rate is equivalent to the percentage increase, we can follow the standard calculation steps described earlier:

Final value – initial value = 1879.30 - 1265.70 = 613.60

Decimal growth rate = 613.60 / 1265.70 = 0.4847910 ≈ 0.48

Growth rate = 0.48 × 100 = 48%

You achieved a 48% revenue growth rate during your first 6 months of operation, significantly exceeding your goal!

To use the percentage increase calculator to find this growth rate, simply enter 1265.70 into the Starting Value field and 1879.30 into the Final Value field, then click "Calculate." The tool will output a 48.4791% increase. Since the first digit after the decimal point (4) is less than 5, the decimal can be rounded down for a clean approximation: 48.4791% ≈ 48%.

Answer

The growth rate of your company in its first six months of operation was approximately 48%, easily surpassing your target value of 30%. Well done!

Price increase

The percentage increase formula is frequently used to track a stock's price increase over time. Monitoring these price changes is a crucial part of the investment decision-making process.

Example 2. Calculating price increase of stock shares

Imagine your friend John bought shares in a stock on June 1st. At the time of purchase, the stock price was $15.65 per share. One month later, on July 1st, the price had risen to $16.70 per share. What is the percentage increase in the value of John's shares?

Solution

Starting Value = $15.65

Final Value = $16.70

To find John's stock ROI, we need to calculate the percentage price increase for the shares he purchased. Following the standard steps for calculating the percentage increase:

Final Value – Starting Value = 16.70 – 15.65 = 1.05

Decimal price increase = 1.05/15.65 ≈ 0.067 ≈ 0.07

Percentage price increase = 0.07 × 100 = 7%

Therefore, the percentage increase in the value of John's shares after one month is 7%.

To use the percentage increase calculator to solve this investment problem, enter 15.65 in the Starting Value field and 16.70 in the Final Value field, then press "Calculate." The calculator will return a 6.70927% increase. Since the first digit after the decimal is 7 (which is greater than 5), the number rounds up: 6.70927% ≈ 7%.

Answer

One month after the initial purchase, the price of John's stock shares increased by approximately 7%.