How do I calculate percentage increase between two years of sales data?

Percentage increase = ((This Year − Last Year) ÷ Last Year) × 100. Example: last year ₹45 lakh, this year ₹54 lakh → ((54 − 45) ÷ 45) × 100 = 20% increase.

Percentage Increase Calculator

Q: What is 20% increase on ₹5,000?

20% of ₹5,000 = ₹1,000. New value = ₹5,000 + ₹1,000 = ₹6,000. Shortcut: 5,000 × 1.20 = ₹6,000.

Q: What is the difference between percentage increase and percentage change?

Percentage change can be positive (increase) or negative (decrease). Percentage increase specifically applies when a value goes up and is always a positive number. If the value falls, use the Percentage Decrease Calculator instead.

Q: How do compound percentage increases work?

If a value increases by 10% in year 1 and 10% in year 2, the total is not 20% but 21% (1.10 × 1.10 = 1.21). Each percentage is applied to the updated value, which is why compound growth is faster than simple growth.

Q: What is 15% increase on 200?

15% of 200 = 30. New value = 200 + 30 = 230. Or directly: 200 × 1.15 = 230.

Q: Is percentage increase the same as percentage point increase?

No. A percentage point is an absolute change in percentage terms. Interest rates rising from 4% to 6% is a 2 percentage-point increase but a 50% increase in the rate. This distinction matters in finance, economics, and medicine.

Find the exact percentage increase between two values — or work backwards from a known percentage.

📈 What is Percentage Increase?

Percentage increase measures how much a value has grown relative to its original amount, expressed as a percentage. It is the most common way to communicate growth — salary hikes, profit margins, population growth, stock returns, price changes, and exam score improvements are all conveyed as percentage increases. The key advantage of expressing growth as a percentage rather than an absolute number is comparability: a ₹5,000 increase means something very different on a ₹10,000 salary versus a ₹2,00,000 salary.

The calculation is straightforward: subtract the original from the new value, divide by the original, and multiply by 100. The result is always a positive number when the value has genuinely increased. A 25% increase means that for every ₹100 of original value, the increase is ₹25 — regardless of the actual scale. This relative framing is what makes percentage increase universally applicable across currencies, units, and magnitudes.

A common source of confusion is the direction of the denominator. Percentage increase is always calculated against the original value, not the new value and not the average of the two. This is why a 50% increase (from 100 to 150) followed by a 33.3% decrease (from 150 back to 100) nets to zero — the percentages use different bases. Another frequent mistake is conflating percentage increase with percentage points: if a bank's interest rate rises from 5% to 7%, that is a 2 percentage-point increase but a 40% increase in the rate itself.

This calculator handles all three variations of the percentage increase problem: finding the percentage when you know both values, finding the new value after applying a known percentage increase, and reverse-engineering the original value from a post-increase amount. All three are common real-world scenarios — the reverse calculation is especially useful when prices are already marked up and you want to know the pre-markup cost.

📐 Formula

Percentage Increase = ((New − Old) ÷ Old) × 100

New = the final or current value

Old = the original or starting value (must be > 0)

Result = positive number representing the % growth

Example: Old = 200, New = 250 → ((250 − 200) ÷ 200) × 100 = 25%

New Value = Old × (1 + Percentage ÷ 100)

Use this when you know the original value and the percentage increase, and want the new value.

Example: Old = 500, Increase = 20% → 500 × 1.20 = 600

Original Value = New Value ÷ (1 + Percentage ÷ 100)

Use this to reverse a known percentage increase and find the original amount.

Example: New = 600, Increase = 20% → 600 ÷ 1.20 = 500

📖 How to Use This Calculator

Steps to Calculate Percentage Increase

Select a calculation mode: "Find % Increase" to measure growth between two known values, "Find New Value" to apply a percentage to an original, or "Find Original" to reverse-engineer a pre-increase amount.

Enter your values. Type the original and new values (Mode 1), or original value and percentage (Mode 2), or new value and percentage (Mode 3).

Click Calculate to see the percentage increase, the new value, the original value, and the absolute increase — all at once.

💡 Example Calculations

Example 1 — Salary Hike

Monthly salary rises from ₹45,000 to ₹54,000

Increase = 54,000 − 45,000 = 9,000

Percentage Increase = (9,000 ÷ 45,000) × 100 = 20%

Salary increased by 20% · Absolute increase: ₹9,000

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Example 2 — Applying a Known Percentage Increase

A product costing ₹1,200 is marked up by 35%

New value = 1,200 × (1 + 35 ÷ 100) = 1,200 × 1.35

New value = ₹1,620

Selling price = ₹1,620 · Markup = ₹420

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Example 3 — Finding the Original Price

A product now costs ₹2,950 after a 18% price increase — what was the original price?

Original = 2,950 ÷ (1 + 18 ÷ 100) = 2,950 ÷ 1.18

Original = ₹2,500

Original price = ₹2,500 · Increase amount = ₹450

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Example 4 — Population Growth

City population grows from 8,50,000 to 10,54,000 over 5 years

Increase = 10,54,000 − 8,50,000 = 2,04,000

Percentage Increase = (2,04,000 ÷ 8,50,000) × 100 = 24%

Population increased by 24% over 5 years

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❓ Frequently Asked Questions

What is the formula for calculating percentage increase?+

Percentage Increase = ((New Value − Original Value) ÷ Original Value) × 100. The result is always positive when the new value is greater than the original. Example: salary rises from ₹40,000 to ₹48,000: ((48,000 − 40,000) ÷ 40,000) × 100 = 20% increase.

How do I calculate percentage increase in Excel?+

Use =(B1-A1)/A1*100 where A1 is the original value and B1 is the new value. Or use =(B1-A1)/A1 and format the cell as Percentage. Example: if A1=400 and B1=500, the result is 25%. You can also use ABS(A1) in the denominator to handle negative starting values safely.

What is 20% increase on ₹5,000?+

A 20% increase on ₹5,000 = ₹5,000 × 0.20 = ₹1,000 increase. New value = ₹5,000 + ₹1,000 = ₹6,000. Shortcut: ₹5,000 × 1.20 = ₹6,000. The multiplier for any percentage increase X is always (1 + X/100).

What is the difference between percentage increase and percentage change?+

Percentage change can be positive or negative — it measures any movement between an old and new value. Percentage increase specifically applies when a value goes up and is always positive. If the new value is smaller, the result is a percentage decrease, not a negative percentage increase. Use the Percentage Change Calculator when you need both directions in a single tool.

How do I find the original value if I know the new value and percentage increase?+

Original Value = New Value ÷ (1 + Percentage Increase ÷ 100). Example: a price after a 25% increase is ₹625 → original = 625 ÷ 1.25 = ₹500. A common mistake is to subtract 25% from ₹625 (giving ₹468.75), which is incorrect because the percentage was applied to the original, not the new value.

Can percentage increase exceed 100%?+

Yes. A 100% increase means the value doubled. A 200% increase means it tripled. A 500% increase means it became 6× the original. There is no mathematical upper limit. A startup's revenue growing from ₹10 lakh to ₹1 crore is a 900% increase — perfectly valid.

How do compound percentage increases work?+

If a value increases by 10% in year 1 and 10% again in year 2, the total is not 20% but 21%. After year 1: 100 × 1.10 = 110. After year 2: 110 × 1.10 = 121. The compound result is 21% above the start. This is the basis of compound interest — each year's interest is calculated on a larger base than the last.

What is 15% increase on 200?+

15% of 200 = 200 × 0.15 = 30. New value = 200 + 30 = 230. Equivalently, 200 × 1.15 = 230. The percentage increase is confirmed: ((230 − 200) ÷ 200) × 100 = 15%.

How do I calculate year-on-year percentage increase?+

Year-on-year (YoY) percentage increase = ((This Year − Last Year) ÷ Last Year) × 100. Example: last year's sales were ₹45 lakh, this year ₹54 lakh → ((54 − 45) ÷ 45) × 100 = 20% YoY growth. This metric is standard in quarterly earnings reports, GDP announcements, and annual performance reviews.

Is percentage increase the same as percentage point increase?+

No — these are different concepts. A percentage point is an absolute change in a percentage figure. If a bank's interest rate rises from 4% to 6%, that is a 2 percentage-point increase, but a 50% increase in the rate itself. In politics and medicine, the distinction matters: a vaccine efficacy improvement from 60% to 75% is a 15 percentage-point increase but a 25% relative improvement in efficacy.

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📌 Quick Tips

💡Percentage increase is always relative to the original value. Going from 100 to 200 is a 100% increase — not 50%, because the denominator is 100, not 200.

💡Mental shortcut: to apply a 20% increase, multiply by 1.20. For 35%, multiply by 1.35. The multiplier is always 1 + (percentage / 100).

💡To reverse a percentage increase (find the original before a 25% hike), divide the new value by 1.25, not subtract 25%.

💡Two successive 10% increases give 21% total (1.10 × 1.10 = 1.21), not 20%. Percentage increases compound.

💡A 100% increase means the value doubled. A 200% increase means it tripled. There is no mathematical upper limit to percentage increase.