Percentage Point Calculator
Use the percentage point calculator to determine the percentage point difference between two percentages.
The formula
points = new% − old%
Points versus percent
A rate moving from 4% to 5% has risen by one percentage point, but by 25 percent. Both are correct and they mean different things, which is why the distinction matters so much in reporting on interest rates, tax and polling. Finance uses basis points — hundredths of a point — to remove the ambiguity entirely.
What a percentage is
"Per cent" means "per hundred", so a percentage is just a fraction with 100 on the bottom. 15% is 15/100, which is 0.15 as a decimal. Every percentage calculation is therefore multiplication or division by a decimal — the percent sign is bookkeeping, not a new operation.
The three questions
Almost every percentage problem is one of three:
- What is P% of N? Multiply:
N × P/100 - A is what percent of B? Divide:
A/B × 100 - A is P% of what? Divide the other way:
A ÷ (P/100)
Recognising which one you have is most of the work; the arithmetic is straightforward once you do.