Excel can calculate percentage increase with one formula. Put the original value in one cell and the new value in another.
Basic Excel formula
If the original value is in A2 and the new value is in B2, enter this in C2:
=(B2-A2)/A2Format cell C2 as Percentage. If A2 contains 240 and B2 contains 300, Excel displays 25%.
Excel stores 25% as 0.25. Do not multiply the formula by 100 if the result cell already uses Percentage formatting.
Fill the formula down a column
Select C2, then drag the fill handle down. Excel adjusts each row automatically:
- Row 3 becomes
(B3-A3)/A3 - Row 4 becomes
(B4-A4)/A4 - Each result uses its own original value
Keep headings such as Original, New, and Increase % in the first row.
Handle an original value of zero
Dividing by zero returns #DIV/0!. That is mathematically appropriate because percentage increase from zero is undefined. If you prefer a message, use:
=IF(A2=0,"Undefined",(B2-A2)/A2)Do not replace the error with 0%, because that would state a result that does not exist. See percentage increase from zero for the reasoning.
Calculate the new value instead
If A2 is the starting number and B2 is an increase rate formatted as a percentage:
=A2*(1+B2)A starting value of 1,500 with 8% in B2 returns 1,620.
Check one Excel result in the calculator
Google Sheets uses the same formulas. See the Google Sheets percentage increase guide for formatting and array examples.