What Is the Percentage Increase Formula? (With Examples)

What is percentage increase?

Percentage increase is the amount by which a value grows, expressed as a percentage of the original value.

Suppose a company’s monthly sales increase from $20,000 to $25,000. The numerical increase is $5,000, but that number alone does not show the size of the change relative to the original sales.

Calculating the percentage increase shows that sales grew by 25%. This makes it easier to compare the result with other periods, departments or companies.

What is the percentage increase formula?

The formula is:

Percentage increase = [(New value − Original value) ÷ Original value] × 100

You can also divide the calculation into two formulas:

Increase = New value − Original value

Percentage increase = (Increase ÷ Original value) × 100

The original value is the starting amount. The new value is the amount after the increase.

How to calculate percentage increase

Use the following three steps.

1. Subtract the original value from the new value

Find the numerical increase:

Increase = New value − Original value

If sales increase from $40,000 to $52,000:

$52,000 − $40,000 = $12,000

The sales increase is $12,000.

2. Divide the increase by the original value

Next, compare the increase with the starting value:

$12,000 ÷ $40,000 = 0.30

Always divide by the original value, not the new value. Using the new value is one of the most common percentage calculation errors.

3. Multiply the result by 100

Convert the decimal into a percentage:

0.30 × 100 = 30%

Therefore, sales increased by 30%.

The complete calculation is:

[($52,000 − $40,000) ÷ $40,000] × 100 = 30%

Why is percentage increase useful?

Percentage increase creates context around a change. A $10,000 increase may be significant for a small business but relatively minor for a large organization. A percentage shows the change in relation to the starting amount.

Professionals may use percentage increase to:

• Track revenue growth
• Compare marketing results
• Measure salary changes
• Monitor website traffic
• Evaluate customer growth
• Review budget increases
• Analyze inventory requirements
• Measure changes in productivity
• Report investment performance
• Set performance targets

It can also help teams present results consistently across different periods or business units.

Percentage increase examples

Example 1: Salary increase

An employee’s annual salary increases from $50,000 to $54,000.

First, calculate the increase:

$54,000 − $50,000 = $4,000

Divide by the original salary:

$4,000 ÷ $50,000 = 0.08

Convert to a percentage:

0.08 × 100 = 8%

The employee received an 8% salary increase.

Example 2: Increase in sales

A store sells 800 units in April and 1,000 units in May.

[(1,000 − 800) ÷ 800] × 100

(200 ÷ 800) × 100 = 25%

The store’s unit sales increased by 25%.

Example 3: Website traffic growth

A website receives 12,500 visitors in one month and 15,000 the following month.

[(15,000 − 12,500) ÷ 12,500] × 100

(2,500 ÷ 12,500) × 100 = 20%

Website traffic increased by 20%.

Example 4: Product price increase

A product’s price rises from $80 to $92.

[($92 − $80) ÷ $80] × 100

($12 ÷ $80) × 100 = 15%

The price increased by 15%.

Example 5: Marketing leads

A marketing campaign generated 240 leads last quarter and 330 leads this quarter.

[(330 − 240) ÷ 240] × 100

(90 ÷ 240) × 100 = 37.5%

The number of leads increased by 37.5%.

Example 6: Department budget

A department’s budget increases from $175,000 to $196,000.

[($196,000 − $175,000) ÷ $175,000] × 100

($21,000 ÷ $175,000) × 100 = 12%

The department’s budget increased by 12%.

Example 7: Customer satisfaction score

A company’s customer satisfaction score rises from 72 to 81.

[(81 − 72) ÷ 72] × 100

(9 ÷ 72) × 100 = 12.5%

The score increased by 12.5%.

This is different from saying the score increased by nine percentage points. Percentage change and percentage-point change are not the same measurement.

Percentage increase vs. percentage-point increase

This distinction is important when comparing percentages.

Suppose a conversion rate rises from 20% to 25%.

The percentage-point increase is:

25% − 20% = 5 percentage points

The percentage increase is:

[(25 − 20) ÷ 20] × 100 = 25%

Therefore, the conversion rate increased by five percentage points, which represents a 25% increase relative to the original rate.

Using the correct term prevents readers from misinterpreting the result.

How to calculate percentage decrease

Percentage decrease measures a reduction from an original value.

The formula is:

Percentage decrease = [(Original value − New value) ÷ Original value] × 100

For example, if monthly expenses decline from $10,000 to $8,500:

[($10,000 − $8,500) ÷ $10,000] × 100

($1,500 ÷ $10,000) × 100 = 15%

Monthly expenses decreased by 15%.

You can also use the standard percentage-change formula:

Percentage change = [(New value − Original value) ÷ Original value] × 100

In this version, a positive result indicates an increase and a negative result indicates a decrease.

For the same example:

[($8,500 − $10,000) ÷ $10,000] × 100 = −15%

The negative sign shows that expenses decreased.

How to find a new value after a percentage increase

Sometimes you know the original value and percentage increase but need to calculate the new value.

Use this formula:

New value = Original value × (1 + Percentage increase as a decimal)

For example, a service currently costs $120 and its price will increase by 15%.

Convert 15% to a decimal:

15 ÷ 100 = 0.15

Add one:

1 + 0.15 = 1.15

Multiply by the original value:

$120 × 1.15 = $138

The new price is $138.

How to find the original value

If you know the new value and percentage increase, use:

Original value = New value ÷ (1 + Percentage increase as a decimal)

For example, a salary is now $66,000 after a 10% increase:

$66,000 ÷ 1.10 = $60,000

The original salary was $60,000.

Simply subtracting 10% from the new salary would not produce the correct answer because the increase was calculated from the original value.

How to calculate percentage increase in Excel or Google Sheets

Suppose the original value is in cell A2 and the new value is in cell B2. Enter:

=(B2-A2)/A2

Then format the result as a percentage.

For example:

• A2: 500
• B2: 625
• Formula result: 25%

You do not need to multiply by 100 when the cell is formatted as a percentage. Doing both may produce an incorrect result of 2,500%.

To prevent an error when the original value is zero, you can use:

=IF(A2=0,"N/A",(B2-A2)/A2)

This displays “N/A” because a standard percentage increase cannot be calculated from a starting value of zero.

Common percentage increase mistakes

Dividing by the new value

The denominator should be the original value. The formula measures the increase relative to the starting point.

Forgetting to multiply by 100

A result such as 0.25 is a decimal. Multiply by 100 or apply percentage formatting to express it as 25%.

Confusing percentage change with the numerical difference

An increase from 100 to 120 is a numerical increase of 20 and a percentage increase of 20%.

Confusing percentages with percentage points

An increase from 30% to 36% is six percentage points but a 20% relative increase.

Reversing the original and new values

Confirm which value occurred first. Reversing them changes both the sign and the result.

Using zero as the original value

Percentage increase is undefined when the original value is zero because division by zero is not possible. Report the numerical increase or use another comparison method.

Ignoring context

A percentage can show the scale of a change, but it does not explain why the change happened. Consider seasonality, market conditions, one-time events and changes in measurement methods.

How to interpret a percentage increase

The calculation is only the first step. To interpret the result, consider:

• The period being measured
• The size of the original value
• Whether the trend is consistent
• Seasonal or external factors
• Changes in how data was collected
• Relevant goals or benchmarks

For example, a 40% sales increase may appear impressive, but it could result from an unusually low starting month. Comparing several periods provides more reliable context.

Conclusion

The percentage increase formula compares growth with an original value. By subtracting, dividing by the starting amount and multiplying by 100, you can measure changes accurately and explain results more clearly.

Present percentage changes clearly with Dokie

Calculating growth is useful, but stakeholders also need to understand what the numbers mean. Dokie is an AI presentation maker that can transform reports, spreadsheets, documents and notes into structured presentations with clear layouts and logical slide flow.

You can use Dokie to present sales growth, budget changes, campaign results or performance trends in a professional deck. After generating the presentation, you can revise the content, apply a consistent visual style and export it as an editable PPT file.

Frequently asked questions

Can a percentage increase be greater than 100%?

Yes. If a value grows from 50 to 125, the increase is 75. Dividing 75 by 50 produces 1.5, so the percentage increase is 150%.

Can percentage increase be negative?

The standard increase calculation may produce a negative result when the new value is lower. This indicates a percentage decrease.

What happens if the original value is zero?

The formula cannot calculate a percentage increase from zero because division by zero is undefined. Report the numerical change or explain that the value grew from zero.

Is percentage increase the same as percentage difference?

No. Percentage increase compares a new value with an original value. Percentage difference compares two values without treating either one as the starting point.

Why do you divide by the original value?

The original value provides the baseline. Percentage increase measures the size of the growth relative to that starting amount.