Calculating percentage change in Excel is essential for understanding data trends and performance. Here’s why it’s beneficial:
- Quickly see how values increase or decrease over time.
- Identify important trends or changes in your data.
- Improve decision-making with clear, easy-to-understand analysis.
Adding this analysis enhances data interpretation. In this article, we will see how to calculate the percentage change between two periods.
How to Calculate Percentage Change in Excel?
You have a document with the sales amount for each month.
- The first formula is not for January but for February. Calculating a percentage change for January is impossible because we don’t know the value of December the previous year.
- Subtract the older period value from the newer one. Use:
=B3-B2 - Copy this formula to other cells if needed.
- Copy your formula for the other cells of your document.
- Next, divide the result of the subtraction by the previous period’s value.
- Change the number format to percentage
- Apply the format to the rest of your cells.
From February to March, sales increased by 38.7% (great result 😃😍).
Write the Formula in One Cell
Use parentheses to write the percentage change Excel formula in one cell. It respects the order of operations.
Avoid mistakes
- As you can see, the formula is very easy.
- However, many people make the mistake of dividing by the current period value.
- No! The current value is present only once in the formula. But the previous value is present twice (in the subtraction and the division)
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Conditional Formatting with Icon
Highlight increases and decreases using icons with conditional formatting. It makes your data easier to read.
