1. What is Percentage Increase?

Percentage 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 metrics.

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the percentage increase formula:

Where:

• \( new \) — The current or final value
• \( old \) — The original or initial value

Explanation: The formula calculates the difference between new and old values, divides by the original value to get relative change, then multiplies by 100 to convert to percentage.

3. When to Use Percentage Increase

Applications: Useful for comparing growth rates, analyzing financial data (stock prices, revenue), measuring performance improvements, tracking inflation, and evaluating changes in scientific measurements.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter both old and new values. The old value cannot be zero (division by zero is undefined). Values can be positive or negative, but the interpretation differs.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What if the old value is zero?
A: Percentage increase is undefined when the old value is zero, as division by zero is mathematically impossible.

Q2: Can percentage increase be negative?
A: Yes, if the new value is less than the old value, the result will be negative, indicating a percentage decrease.

Q3: How is this different from percentage difference?
A: Percentage increase compares a new value to an original value, while percentage difference compares any two values without reference to which is original.

Q4: What's a good percentage increase?
A: This depends entirely on context. In investments, higher is better; in costs, lower is better; in scientific measurements, it depends on the experiment.

Q5: How to interpret very large percentage increases?
A: Large percentages (e.g., 1000%) often occur when starting from a very small base number. Consider both the percentage and absolute change for meaningful interpretation.