How to Calculate Average Percentage Increase in Excel

What Is Average Percentage Increase

The average growth per period over a number of periods is called the average percentage increase.

The formula for percentage increase is:

Percentage increase in a period = ( Value at the end of the period - Value at the beginning of the period)/ Value at the beginning of the period

The formula for average percentage increase:

Average percentage increase = Summation of percentage increase in all the period/ Number of period

Method 1 – Calculating Percentage Increase for First Period

Enter the following formula in cell D6.

=(C6-C5)/C5

The formula will find the difference between the sales at the end of the year 2011 and the sales at the end of the year 2010. It will divide the difference with the sales value at the end of the year 2010.

➤ Press ENTER and you will get the sales increase in 2011.

➤ To get the percentage increase, go to the Home tab and click on the Percent Style icon from the Number tab.

The result will show the sales increase in percentage.

Method 2 – Determining Percentage Increase in All Periods

➤ Select cell D6 and place the cursor in the bottom right corner of the cell.

➤ The cursor will turn into a plus sign. Drag cell D6 to the end of your dataset.

The formula will be applied in all the cells and you will get the percentage increases for all the periods.

If you notice, the percentage numbers are showing only one digit. Excel approximates the total number to one digit. The percentage increase is a very small number. So, when it is approximated to one digit, you may not get the accurate value. Add more digits to the numbers.

➤ Go to the Home tab and click on the Increase Decimal icon.

One additional digit will be added to the selected numbers per click.