1. What is Percent Increase?

Percent increase measures how much a quantity has grown relative to its original value, expressed as a percentage. It's commonly used to track growth rates, price changes, performance improvements, and other comparative measurements.

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the percent increase formula:

Where:

• New — The current or final value
• Old — The original or initial value

Explanation: The formula calculates the difference between the new and old values, divides by the original value to get a ratio, then converts to a percentage by multiplying by 100.

3. When to Use Percent Increase

Common Applications: Calculate salary increases, price changes, investment growth, population changes, test score improvements, and any situation where you need to measure relative change between two values.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter both old and new values. The old value cannot be zero (as division by zero is undefined). The calculator handles both positive and negative changes.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What's the difference between percent increase and absolute increase?
A: Absolute increase is simply New - Old, while percent increase shows the change relative to the original value.

Q2: How do I interpret a negative result?
A: A negative result indicates a percent decrease rather than increase.

Q3: What if my old value was zero?
A: Percentage change is undefined when starting from zero, as it would require division by zero.

Q4: Can I use this for percentage decrease calculations?
A: Yes, the same formula works - a decrease will simply show as a negative percentage.

Q5: How is this different from percentage points?
A: Percentage points measure absolute difference between two percentages, while percent increase measures relative change from an original value.