Percentage Change Explained

Percentage change is a single figure that describes how much a value has moved between an original and a new number — covering both increases and decreases. A positive result means the value went up; a negative result means it went down. That makes it ideal when you do not yet know which way something has moved.

Percentage Change = ((New Value − Original Value) ÷ Original Value) × 100

Three steps:

• Subtract the original value from the new value. A positive number means up; negative means down.
• Divide by the original value so the change is measured against where you started.
• Multiply by 100 to turn the result into a percentage.

A negative percentage change simply tells you the direction — the value went down. A fall from £250 to £210 is −16%, which is a 16% decrease. You do not need a separate formula; the sign does the work for you.

These four are easy to mix up. Here is the distinction:

• Percentage change covers both directions in one figure — use it when the direction is not known in advance.
• Percentage increase is specifically for values that have gone up — see our percentage increase guide.
• Percentage decrease is specifically for values that have gone down — see our percentage decrease guide.
• Percentage difference compares two values without treating either as the starting point, using their average as the base. Use it when neither number is clearly the original — try the percentage between two numbers calculator.

You cannot calculate a percentage change from zero, because you would be dividing by zero. If your original value is zero, enter a small non-zero starting figure, or describe the change in absolute terms instead.

Enter your original and new values into the percentage change calculator to see the result, the direction and the full working instantly.