Calculate percentages, percentage changes, increases, decreases, and differences with our free online tools. All calculators provide instant, accurate results for everyday use, business, finance, and education.
Calculate percentages, percentage of a number, and percentage changes
Calculate what percentage one number is of another
Calculate percentage increase from one value to another
Calculate percentage decrease from one value to another
Calculate percentage change between two values (increase or decrease)
Calculate the percentage difference between two values
Get accurate percentage calculations immediately as you type. No waiting, no delays.
Works perfectly on all devices - phone, tablet, or desktop. Calculate percentages anywhere.
100% free to use. No registration, no hidden fees, unlimited calculations.
Percentage conversions and calculations cover percent change, percentage points, and the reverse arithmetic of working out an original value from a percentage. Most of the confusion in this category isn't the arithmetic itself, it's language: percent and percentage point sound interchangeable and are not.
If an interest rate moves from 5 percent to 7 percent, it has risen by 2 percentage points. Described as a percent change, though, the same move is a 40 percent increase, because percent change measures the size of the move relative to the original 5, and 2 is 40 percent of 5. Both descriptions are correct; they answer different questions, and news headlines mix them up constantly, especially with interest rates, tax rates, and survey results where the swing is small in absolute terms but large in relative terms.
The rule of thumb: percentage points is a simple subtraction between two percentages, while percent change divides that difference by the original percentage and is always a relative figure, not an absolute one.
A value that rises 20 percent and then falls 20 percent does not return to where it started. Start with 100: a 20 percent rise takes it to 120. A 20 percent fall from 120 removes 24, not 20, because the fall is calculated against the new, larger base, leaving 96, not 100. The same asymmetry runs the other direction too: a fall followed by an equal percentage rise also fails to recover the original value, landing below it, because the rise is calculated against a smaller, already reduced base.
This shows up constantly in investment returns, where a portfolio that loses 50 percent needs a 100 percent gain, not a 50 percent gain, just to get back to even, since the recovery percentage is calculated against the smaller post-loss balance.
Percentage change assumes a direction, an original value and a new value, and measures the move relative to the original. Percentage difference has no direction: it compares two values against their average, and is used when neither value is clearly the 'before' figure, such as comparing two competing products' prices rather than tracking one price over time. Using percentage change language, 'up 30 percent,' when the situation actually calls for percentage difference, or the reverse, produces a defensible-sounding number that answers the wrong question.