1. What is Percentage Increase?

Percentage increase measures the relative growth from an original value to a new value, expressed as a percentage. It is commonly used in finance, economics, business, and statistics to track growth rates, price changes, and performance improvements.

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the percentage increase formula:

Where:

• \( New \) — The new or current value
• \( Old \) — The original or previous value

Explanation: The formula calculates the difference between new and old values, divides by the original value to get the relative change, and multiplies by 100 to convert to percentage.

3. Importance of Percentage Increase Calculation

Details: Percentage increase is essential for analyzing growth trends, comparing performance over time, making investment decisions, setting price strategies, and evaluating business metrics. It provides a standardized way to measure change regardless of the scale of the original values.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter the original value and the new value in any consistent units. Both values must be positive numbers. The calculator will compute the percentage increase automatically.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What if the old value is zero?
A: The formula cannot be used when the old value is zero, as division by zero is undefined. In such cases, percentage increase is not meaningful.

Q2: What does a negative percentage increase mean?
A: A negative percentage increase indicates a decrease rather than an increase. If the new value is less than the old value, the result will be negative, representing a percentage decrease.

Q3: How is percentage increase different from percentage points?
A: Percentage increase measures relative change from an original value, while percentage points measure absolute difference between two percentages.

Q4: Can I use this for percentage decrease calculations?
A: Yes, when the new value is smaller than the old value, the result will be negative, indicating a percentage decrease.

Q5: What are common applications of percentage increase?
A: Common applications include calculating salary increases, price changes, population growth, investment returns, sales growth, and performance improvements.