Excel and Google Sheets Percentage Increase

Percent change from two columns

Put the original in column A and the new value in column B.

=(B2-A2)/A2

Format the result cell as a percent. With 4 in A2 and 5 in B2, the cell shows 25%. With 5 and 4, it shows −20%. Google Sheets accepts this formula unchanged.

If some original cells are blank or zero, avoid the #DIV/0! error:

=IF(A2=0,"undefined",(B2-A2)/A2)

ABS is useful when you want the size of a move that might start negative, but it is the wrong default for ordinary prices. =(B2-A2)/ABS(A2) still carries the sign of the change, and it treats a negative baseline as a positive divisor. Use it only when that is the comparison you mean.

Add a percent, or reverse one

When B2 contains a real percent such as 5% (stored as 0.05):

=A2*(1+B2)

When B2 contains the whole number 5, meaning five percent:

=A2*(1+B2/100)

To recover the original from a new value in A2 and a percent in B2:

=IF(B2=-1,"undefined",A2/(1+B2))

In that last formula, B2 is a spreadsheet percent, so −100% is stored as −1. Dividing by zero is the same undefined case the calculator reports.

Check 100 to 125 online. The spreadsheet result and the calculator should both say 25%.

A short worked sheet

• A2 = 1850, B2 = 5, formula =A2*(1+B2/100) → 1942.5
• A2 = 80, B2 = 60, formula =(B2-A2)/A2 → −25%
• A2 = 13, B2 = 30%, formula =A2/(1+B2) → 10

Copy the formula down by the fill handle. Keep original and new values in their own columns so you do not overwrite the inputs with the result.