Percentage Calculator
Calculate percentages, percentage change, increase, and decrease easily.
What is X% of Y?
X is what % of Y?
Percentage Change (Increase/Decrease)
Increase or Decrease a Number by %
What is Percentage?
Percentage means "per hundred" (from Latin per centum). It's a way of expressing a number as a fraction of 100. Percentages are used everywhere — from shopping discounts and tax calculations to academic scores and financial growth rates.
Understanding percentages helps you make better decisions: compare discounts, understand interest rates, evaluate salary hikes, and track investment returns.
Percentage Formulas
Percentage = (Value / Total) × 100
% Change = [(New − Old) / Old] × 100
Common Percentage Calculations:
- X% of Y = Multiply Y by X/100
- X is what % of Y = (X ÷ Y) × 100
- Percentage Increase = [(New – Old) / Old] × 100 (positive result)
- Percentage Decrease = [(Old – New) / Old] × 100 (positive result)
- Increased Value = Number + (Number × Percent / 100)
- Decreased Value = Number – (Number × Percent / 100)
💡 Tip: To quickly calculate 10% of any number, just move the decimal point one place left. For 5%, halve that. For 15%, add 10% + 5%.
Example Calculations
Example 1: What is 15% of ₹2,000?
15% of 2000 = (15/100) × 2000 = 0.15 × 2000 = ₹300
Example 2: 45 is what % of 180?
Percentage = (45/180) × 100 = 0.25 × 100 = 25%
Example 3: Percentage change from 80 to 100
% Change = [(100 - 80) / 80] × 100 = (20/80) × 100 = 25% increase
Frequently Asked Questions
Break it down: 10% = move decimal left. 5% = half of 10%. 1% = move decimal two places left. 25% = divide by 4. 50% = divide by 2. Combine these for any percentage: 15% = 10% + 5%.
Percentage is a value out of 100 (e.g., scoring 80/100 = 80%). Percentile indicates your rank relative to others (e.g., 90th percentile means you scored better than 90% of test takers). They measure different things.
Yes! Percentage can exceed 100% in many contexts: a 150% increase means the value is 2.5× the original. For example, if your investment doubled, that's a 100% return. If it tripled, that's 200% return.
Multiply the fraction by 100. Examples: 3/4 = 75%, 1/3 ≈ 33.33%, 2/5 = 40%, 7/8 = 87.5%. Simply divide the numerator by denominator and multiply by 100.
A percentage point is an absolute difference. If interest rate goes from 8% to 10%, it increased by 2 percentage points. But the percentage increase is (2/8)×100 = 25%. These are commonly confused but mean very different things.
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