Percent Change in Excel: Increase, Decrease and Growth
Calculate percent change in Excel with (new-old)/old, month-over-month growth with fill down, handling zero starting values, and compound annual growth (CAGR).
By Ayoub Farid · · 1 min read
Percent change answers "how much did it go up or down, relative to where it started?". The formula is short, but brackets and zero values trip people up.
The formula
=(new-old)/oldSales went from 4,200 (B2) to 4,800 (B3):
=(B3-B2)/B2 → 14.3%Format as %. A negative result is a decrease.
The brackets matter: =B3-B2/B2 gives a completely different number. See order of operations.
Shorter version
=B3/B2-1Same result.
Month over month
Monthly sales in B2:B13. In C3:
=(B3-B2)/B2Fill down to C13. Both references should move, so no $ here. Each month compares with the one before.
Compared with a fixed base
Each month compared with January (B2):
=(B3-$B$2)/$B$2Now the base is locked.
When the old value is zero
Dividing by zero gives #DIV/0!, and percent change from zero isn't meaningful anyway.
=IF(B2=0,"n/a",(B3-B2)/B2)Compound annual growth (CAGR)
From 50,000 to 80,000 over 4 years:
=(80000/50000)^(1/4)-1 → 12.5% per yearOr =RRI(4,50000,80000).
Show arrows or colours
Use conditional formatting: green for positive, red for negative. Or a custom number format: ▲0.0%;▼0.0%.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate percentage increase in Excel?
=(new-old)/old, formatted as a percentage.
How do I calculate percentage decrease?
Same formula. A decrease gives a negative percentage.
Why is my percent change wrong?
Check the brackets: (new-old)/old, and make sure you divide by the old value.
How do I calculate growth over several years?
Use CAGR: =(end/start)^(1/years)-1.