A percentage increase calculator shows how much a value has grown, as a percent of where it started. Enter the original number and the new number, and it tells you the percent increase instantly. It’s handy for prices, salaries, test scores, YouTube subscribers, game stats, investments or any number that changes over time.
The formula is: percent increase = ((new value − original value) Ă· original value) Ă— 100. For example, if your channel grew from 2,000 to 2,600 subscribers, the increase is 600. Divide 600 by 2,000 to get 0.3, then multiply by 100: a 30 percent increase. If the result is negative, the value actually decreased, and you’d want a percent decrease calculator instead.
A key point people often miss: percent increase is always measured against the original value, not the new one. That’s why a 50 percent increase followed by a 50 percent decrease doesn’t bring you back to where you started. Start at 100, increase by 50 percent to 150, then decrease by 50 percent and you end up at 75.
Other common mistakes include mixing up percent increase with percentage points (going from a 10 percent to a 15 percent interest rate is a 5 percentage point increase, but a 50 percent increase in the rate itself) and using the wrong starting value. When the original value is zero, percent increase can’t be calculated, because you can’t divide by zero.
Tips for getting accurate results from the Percentage Increase Calculator: double-check that every input uses the right units, enter numbers without commas or symbols, and run the calculation a second time with a quick estimate in your head to confirm the answer looks reasonable.
How to use the Percentage Increase Calculator on Minedit: enter your values in the fields, press calculate, and review the step-by-step breakdown under the result. If something looks off, change one input at a time to see how it affects the answer, which is also a great way to learn the math behind it.
For the math behind relative change, see Wikipedia’s relative change article. You’ll also find percent decrease, percentage difference and percent growth calculators on Minedit.