When working with numbers, it’s very likely that you will need to calculate percentages. Besides, it’s an integral part of the finance, business, and education world. The percentage is also used in various careers such as Engineering, IT, and Surveying.
What is percentage change?
Before we dive into the tutorial, it’s important to understand the meaning of percentage change.
Percentage change refers to a percentage increase or decrease. It is the difference in terms of percentage between two integers.
Formula to calculate percentage change between two values
In most occasions, percentage change involves two values.
For example, if the price of a stock increases from $100 to $140, then you need to calculate the percentage increase. On the other hand, if the price of the stock reduces from $150 to $120, then you are looking for a percentage decrease.
The universal formula for calculating percentage change is
Change in price/original price*100
How to calculate percentage increase in Excel
Assuming we are calculating the percentage change of the following values
The old price is in cell D5 while the new price is in Cell E5.
To get the % change, you will have the following formula in cell F5.
=Change in Price/Original Price
The formula to find the percentage increase in Microsoft Excel is
=(E5-D5)/D5
1. Type the above formula in cell F5 and press enter
2. You will get an answer such as the one in the image below
That’s not it, and you need to convert it to a percent by clicking on the percentage icon in the home tab under the number group.
That’s how to calculate the percentage change of two values using Excel.
How to calculate percentage decrease in Excel
To calculate the percentage decrease, you need to use the exact method we used for the percentage increase. The only difference is that the percentage decreases, and the change will be negative.
Assuming we have the old price as $150 on cell D5 and the new price as $120 on Cell E5.
1. The formula for calculating a percentage decrease in this scenario is:
=(E5-D5)/D5
Type it in cell F5 and press enter
2. When calculating the percentage decrease, you will get a negative number
3. Now click on the percentage icon under the home tab to get the decrease in percent form
Shortcut for calculating percentage change in Excel
The shortcut method for calculating percentage change in Excel is
=((new value/old value)-1)*100
New Value– The new price of your product
Old Value– The old price of your product
Multiply by 100: Multiplying by 100 converts the number to a percent
Note that once you multiply by 100, that is the final percent. You should add the percentage icon manually. If not you do not want to do that, use this formula instead. Then format the cell as a percent. See the image below for an illustration
=((new value/old value)-1)
How to calculate value after percentage change
What if you have the old price and the percentage change? You can use this information to calculate the new price.
Assuming you want to find the new values after the percentage change.
1. To find the new value, you need to apply the following formula.
=D4*(1+E4)
2. Double-click on the fill handle to apply the formula to the remaining cells
That’s how to find the new value if you have the old value and percentage change. The formula works either way, whether you are dealing with an increase or decrease.