How to Calculate Percentage Increase in Excel (Examples with All Criteria)

Consider an exam of 50 questions, where the applicant has answered 35 of them correctly. Let’s calculate the percentage of correct answers.

Steps:

Insert a formula that divides the number of correct answers by the total amount (here, it’s =C5/B5)

Press Enter.

Go to the Number group.
Click on the Percentage (%) sign.

Look at the result below.

Calculate Percentage Increase in Excel with Examples

Excel formula for Percentage Increase:

Percentage Increase = (New value – Original Value) / Original Value

Consider a price of an item being $100 one month, and $150 the next:
Increase = (150-100)/100 = 0.5 = 50%
This means there is a 50% increase in the price.

Example 1 – Calculate Percentage Increase in Marks

We have some student marks in the dataset. You can see their performance in a particular subject in the Summer and Fall semesters. We are going to calculate the percentage increase between the semesters.

Steps:

Select cell F5 and insert the following formula.

=(E5-D5)/D5

Press Enter and drag the Fill Handle icon over the range F6:F11.

You will see the increase in decimal format. To change this to percentages, go to the Number group in the Home tab.

Click on the Percentage (%) sign.

Example 2 – Percentage Increase of Sales Formula in Excel

Here we have the yearly sales data of a company. Our goal is to calculate the percentage increase in sales using the increase percentage formula in Excel.

Steps:

Select cell D6 and insert the following formula:

=(C6-C5)/C5

Press Enter and drag the Fill handle icon over the range D7:D11.

Go to the Number group in the Home tab.

Click on the Percentage (%) sign.

Increase a Value by a Particular Percentage in Excel

The Generic Formula:

New value = Original Value+ (Original Value * Percentage)

Here are the prices of some products. We want to calculate the new price after increasing the price by a specific percentage.

Steps:

Move to cell E5 and insert the following formula.

=C5+(C5*D5)

Press Enter and drag the Fill handle icon over the range E6:E11.

Compute the Percentage Decrease in Excel

Excel Formula for Percentage Decrease:

Decrease = (Original Value – New Value) / Original Value
Consider a price of an item being $100 one month, and $50 the next:
Decrease = (100-50)/100 = 0.5 = 50%
It means there is a 50% decrease in the price.

We have the prices of some products. You can see there is a decrease in the price between October and November. We are going to calculate the decrease in the percentage.

Steps:

Use the following formula in cell E5.

=(C5-D5)/C5

Press Enter and drag the Fill handle icon over the range E6:E11.

To convert this to percentages, go to the Number group in the Home tab.

Click on the Percentage (%) sign.

How to Show Increase or Decrease in Excel Using VBA

We have a dataset with prices. We’ll display whether the price increased, decreased, or stayed the same.

Steps:

Press Alt + F11 on your keyboard to open the VBA editor.
Select Insert and choose Module.

Insert the following code.

Sub increase_or_decrease()

Dim result As Integer
Dim i As Integer

For i = 5 To 11
 If (Cells(i, 3).Value > Cells(i, 4).Value) Then
  result = ((Cells(i, 3).Value - Cells(i, 4).Value) / Cells(i, 3).Value) * 100
  Cells(i, 5).Value = result & "% Decrease"
 ElseIf (Cells(i, 3).Value < Cells(i, 4).Value) Then
  result = ((Cells(i, 4).Value - Cells(i, 3).Value) / Cells(i, 3).Value) * 100
  Cells(i, 5).Value = result & "% Increase"
 Else
  Cells(i, 5).Value = "No change"
 End If
Next i

End Sub

Save the file as an .xlsm.
Go back to the sheet.
Press Alt + F8 to open the Macro dialog box.
Select the increase_or_decrease macro and click on Run.

Here are the results.

Percentage as a Proportion of a Number in Excel

Consider a dataset with a loan amount of $1000. However, the total payments are $725. We’ll determine percentage proportion of the payment abd the percentage proportion of the due amount.

Steps:

Select cell D5 and use the following formula.

=C5/B5

Press Enter.
You will see the increase in decimal format. To change this to percentages, go to the Number group in the Home tab, then click on the Percentage (%) sign.

Select cell D5 and use the following formula.

=100%-D5

Press Enter.

Calculate the Discount Percentage Based on Conditions in Excel

Consider a shop giving out discounts based on the following structure:

VIP customers get a 30% discount.
Regular customers get a 15% discount.
No discount for new customers.

We’ll calculate the percentage of the numbers or amounts using the previous formula.

Steps:

Select cell D5 and use the following formula.

=IF(C5="VIP",(1-30%)*B5,IF(C5="REGULAR",(1-15%)*B5,B5))

Press Enter and drag the Fill Handle icon over the range D6:D11.

Find the Actual Price Based on the Amount and Percentage

The Generic Formula:

Actual Price = Buying Price / Percentage

To demonstrate this, we are using the following dataset.

Steps:

Select cell D5 and insert the following formula.

=B5/C5

Press Enter.

Find the Amount Based on the Tax Percentage in Excel

Consider the following dataset where we have an amount and we have to apply a percentage to it.

The Generic Formula:

Additional Amount = Buying Price * Tax Percentage

Steps:

Select cell D5 and use the following formula.

=B5*C5

Press Enter.

Common Errors While Dealing with Percentage in Excel

#DIV/0!: If you try to divide a percentage by zero, it will happen. To crack this issue, modify the divider into a number that is not zero.
#VALUE!: This appears when you select a blank cell while calculating. When a function is expecting a number but you give it text, it will occur.
#NUM!: It will occur if your formula contains an invalid percentage.
#NAME?: If you type incorrect values in the formula, like a misspelling of a function. To correct it, write proper formula names.
#REF!: You may find this error if you are referencing an invalid cell. Also, it will occur if you have deleted a cell that is needed for the formula. To rectify this, select the correct cell references.
####: You may find this if your data does not fit with the column. Extend the individual column.

Things to Remember

To get a percentage difference, you must provide two values.
Your formula will show a negative percentage for decrease if your original value is bigger than the new value. To solve this, subtract the new value from the original value.
Excel will show decimal places for percentages. You can use the shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + %.

Download the Practice Workbook

Calculate Percentage Increase.xlsm

<< Go Back to Percentage Change | Calculating Percentages | Calculate in Excel | Learn Excel

Get FREE Advanced Excel Exercises with Solutions!