The percentage increase between September and October is 25%with this figure displayed as a decimal number (0.25) by default in Excel using the formula above.
If you want to display this figure as a percentage in Excel, you’ll need to override your cell formatting. Select your cell, then click the Percent Style in the home tab under Number.
You can also right click on your cell, click Format Cellsthen select percentages from the Category > Number to achieve the same effect.
Calculation of percentage decrease in Excel
To calculate the percentage decrease between two numbers, you’ll use an identical calculation to the percentage increase calculation. You subtract the second number from the first, then divide it by the first number. The only difference is that the first number will be smaller than the second number.
Continuing with the previous example, if a household bill is $125 in October, but returns to $100 in November, you would use the excel formula =SUM(NEW-OLD)/OLD or, in this example, =SUM(100-125)/125.
Using cell references, if the invoice amount for October $125 is in the cell B4 and the amount of the bill for November $100 is in the cell B5your Excel formula for a percentage decrease would be =SUM(B5-B4)/B4.
The difference between the figures for October and November is twenty%. Excel displays this as a negative decimal number (-0.2) in cells B7 Y B8 on.
Set cell number type to percentages using the Home > Percentage Styles button will change the decimal place (-0.2) to a percentage (-twenty%).
Calculate a percentage as a proportion of a number
Excel can also help you calculate a percentage as a ratio. This is the difference between a number, as its whole digit, and a smaller number. This requires an even simpler mathematical calculation than a percentage change.
To give you an example, if you have a debt of $100, and you have already paid $50then the proportion of the debt that you have paid off (and coincidentally still owe) is fifty%. To calculate this, you divide 50 by 100.
In Excel, the formula to calculate this example would be =50/100. Using cell references, where $100 is in the cell B3 Y $50 is in the cell B4the required Excel formula is =B4/B3.
This uses just a basic division operator to give you the decimal number (0.5).
Convert this type of cell number to percentages clicking Home > Percentage Style button will show the correct percentage of fifty%.
How to calculate percentages of a number
Calculating the percentage of a number is something you will encounter in everyday life. A good example would be an item for sale, where a discount of twenty% is being applied to the original price of $200. A store clerk would need to know how much 20% of $200 was. They could then subtract this number from the original price to get the discounted price.
This requires another simple mathematical calculation in Excel. Only the multiplication operator (*) and percent sign (%) are used here. to calculate that twenty% of the original $200 the price is, you can use any =20%*200 either =0.2*200 to calculate in Excel.
To use cell references, where twenty% is in the cell B4 and the original price of $200 is in the cell B5you could use the formula =B4*B5.
The result is the same whether you use twenty%, 0.2or separate cell references in your formula. 20% of $200 It does not matter $40as shown in cells B6 to B8 on.
Using Excel for Complex Calculations
As this guide shows, Excel is great for simple calculations, but it also handles more complex calculations. Calculations using functions such as the VLOOKUP function are made easy with the built-in function lookup tool.
If you’re new to Excel, take advantage of some Excel tips every user should know to further improve your productivity.
