How to Calculate Percentage Increase in Excel with this Formula

Microsoft Excel is a powerful spreadsheet software that can be used to analyze and present data. One of the many calculations you can do in Excel is calculating percentage increase. This can be especially useful when tracking changes over time.

When calculating percentage increase, you need to compare two numbers and determine by what amount the second number has increased compared to the initial number. To calculate percentage increase in Excel, you can use the following formula:

=(New Value - Old Value)/Old Value

For example, let's say you want to calculate the percentage increase between two numbers, 50 and 75. Using the formula above, we can calculate the percentage increase as follows:

=(75-50)/50 = 0.5

To get the actual percentage increase, multiply the result by 100. In this case, the percentage increase would be 50%.

It's important to note that the formula above only works when you're comparing two numbers that are greater than zero. If one of the numbers is equal to or less than zero, the formula won't work. In this case, you should use the following formula instead:

=(New Value - Old Value)/(Old Value + New Value)

Using Excel's built-in tools, you can also easily calculate percentage increase. Simply highlight both cells, right click and select Format Cells, then select Percentage from the Number tab. This will automatically calculate the percentage increase between the two cells.

In conclusion, using Excel formulas can be a great way to quickly calculate percentage increase. Whether you use a formula or Excel's built-in features, being able to calculate percentage increase can be a useful tool for analyzing data over time.