Learn the simple formula to calculate percentage increase in Excel. This is essential for tracking growth in sales, website traffic, or any other key metric.
Enter your original value (the 'old' number) in one cell (e.g., A2) and the new value in an adjacent cell (e.g., B2).
Click on an empty cell where you want the percentage increase to be displayed (e.g., C2).
Type the formula =(B2-A2)/A2 into the selected cell and press Enter. This calculates the difference, then divides it by the original number to find the increase as a decimal.
With the result cell still selected, go to the Home tab. In the Number group, click the Percent Style (%) button to format the decimal as a percentage.
Click the small square (fill handle) at the bottom-right corner of the result cell and drag it down to apply the formula to other rows of data.
Helpful Tips for Percentage Calculations
The same formula works for calculating a percentage decrease. The result will simply be a negative percentage.
If the original value might be zero, use the IFERROR function to prevent errors. For example: =IFERROR((B2-A2)/A2, "N/A").
Use the Increase Decimal or Decrease Decimal buttons in the Home tab's Number group to show more or fewer decimal places in your percentage.
You can also use the formula =(B2/A2)-1. This achieves the same result in fewer steps and is easier to type.
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