Percentage Difference in Excel (Increase / Decrease)

Percentage Difference in Excel (Table of Contents)

• Percentage Difference
• How to Calculate the Percentage Difference?

Percentage Change or Difference in Excel

Most of the time we need to calculate the difference between two numbers but sometimes we also need to calculate the percentage difference between the two numbers. This situation may be when we have to calculate the percentage change in excel between two numbers that are charged by the different salesperson for a similar product or this situation may come when we have to calculate the difference in the interest rate of various banks.

How to Calculate the Percentage Difference in Excel?

Calculating the change among the various percentage in excel is easy.  Below are examples of the percentage difference.

Example #1 – Percentage Increase / Decrease in Excel among the Columns.

• Given below is the data to find the increase/decrease of percentage among the columns.

• The change in the percentage of column 1 in excel can be easily calculated by using the difference function.

• Now drag the plus sign to get the change in the percentage of all columns in excel.

• If the resulting value is not formatted as a percentage then we can format that cell and get the value in percentage. For formatting go to the home tab>Numbers>percentage.

• If we do not need the decimal in percentage then we can also choose to hide them. Use the format cell option

• In Format Cell window turn the decimal count to zero instead of 2.This will turn the decimal points off for the percentages.

Example #2 – Percentage Change among the Rows

In this case, we will calculate the change in data if the data is presented vertically.

• Insert the function in given below data that will calculate the percentage for prior row value and then subtract the resultant value from the percentage of next value.

• Use the following formula to calculate the difference –

“Value of prior row/Total value – value of next row/total value”

• Now drag the plus sign to get the difference of all the rows.

• The next step is to format the result as a percentage from the format cell option. For that First select cells from the difference column and right click on them and select format cells option.

• In format cell window select percentage and change decimal to zero.

• Then the result will look like the following.

Example #3  – Output reduced by a certain Percentage.

Not only we can calculate the change between two percentages but we can also calculate the amount that will result if there is a certain percentage decrease.

• Use the following data to see the reduction in output by a certain percentage.

• Develop a formula that will reduce the amount by said percentage. The formula will be as below.

Amount*(1-reduction required)

• Reduction in the output by a certain percentage for all values will be as follows –

Example #4 – Percentage Increase / Decrease Between Two Numbers

We can also show the change between two the amounts as a percentage in excel.

This means that we can choose to show that by how much percentage the amount has reduced.

• Use the following data to find a percentage difference between the two numbers in excel.

• Develop a function that will calculate the change and then calculate the percentage  in excel. The formula will be as below.

(New amount-Old amount)/Old amount.

• The percentage difference between two numbers will be –

Things to remember

• If we subtract two percentages then the result will be a percentage.
• If we are formatting a cell as a percentage then the value of the cell first needs to be divided by 100
• Typing .20 or 20 in a cell that is formatted as a percentage will give the same result as 20%
• If we insert a value that is less than 1 in a cell that is to be formatted as a percentage then, excel will automatically multiply it with 100.

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This has been a guide to Percentage Change/Difference in Excel. Here we discuss how to find the Percentage increase or decrease in excel along with excel examples and downloadable excel template. You can also go through our other suggested articles –

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