What is the Formula to Calculate Percentage Increase or Decrease?

Understanding how to calculate percentage increase or decrease is a fundamental skill, especially when analyzing growth trends or reductions in various fields such as finance, business, and even daily life scenarios.

This article will guide you through the precise formulae used to determine percentage increases and decreases, ensuring your calculations are accurate and efficient.

Formula for Percentage Increase

To calculate the percentage increase between two values, follow this simple formula:

[ \text{Percentage Increase} = \left(\frac{\text{New Value} - \text{Old Value}}{\text{Old Value}}\right) \times 100 ]

Steps:

1. Subtract the old value from the new value.
2. Divide the difference by the old value.
3. Multiply the result by 100 to get the percentage increase.

Example Calculation

Suppose you had an initial investment of $500, and it grew to $600. The percentage increase would be calculated as follows:

[ \text{Percentage Increase} = \left(\frac{600 - 500}{500}\right) \times 100 = 20% ]

Formula for Percentage Decrease

The calculation for percentage decrease is very similar to percentage increase, with a slight difference in the operation:

[ \text{Percentage Decrease} = \left(\frac{\text{Old Value} - \text{New Value}}{\text{Old Value}}\right) \times 100 ]

Steps:

1. Subtract the new value from the old value.
2. Divide the difference by the old value.
3. Multiply the result by 100 to find the percentage decrease.

Example Calculation

Imagine a product's price decreased from $150 to $120. Here's how you calculate the percentage decrease:

[ \text{Percentage Decrease} = \left(\frac{150 - 120}{150}\right) \times 100 = 20% ]

Real-life Applications and Further Reading

Knowing how to calculate percentage changes can be incredibly beneficial in numerous domains. Whether you're analyzing market trends, assessing business performance, or estimating cost reductions, these calculations are essential.

For more on formatting numbers as percentages with two decimal places, you can read this article. If you're interested in knowing how to calculate code coverage, check out the articles on pytest code coverage and calculate code coverage.

For developers and those working with scripts, understanding how to match percentages in bash and the meaning of the percentage symbol in PowerShell can also be valuable.

By mastering these calculations, you equip yourself with a tool that can greatly enhance your analytical capabilities and precision in decision-making. Happy calculating!