Excel Percentage Difference (Table of Contents)
Percentage Difference in Excel
Percentage Difference in Excel is used to find the percentage changes, ups and downs, and the percentage value of any number. To find the percentage difference between any two numbers, subtract the smallest number from the bigger digit and then divide the outcome of subtraction with the smallest number among them. Then convert the obtained value into Percentage by clicking on % from the Home menu ribbon. We can even multiply the outcome by 100 to get a percentage value but without a percentage sign.
How to Calculate the Percentage?
A simple way to calculate the percentage is, take the same example above. How much is the percentage of 50 in 500?
(50/500) X 100 = 10%.
I hope it is clear how to calculate percentages.
Calculate percentage in Excel
Take a portion of share in one cell and total share in one cell.
Now apply the formula for a percentage as discussed above and as shown in the below picture.
The Result will be as given below.
Percentage difference
Now we will understand what percentage difference is; percentage difference is the conversion of a difference of two values into a percentage.
E.g., A is the base value and B is another value, so A-B will give one value; if we represent the A-B(difference) in percentage, it will be called a percentage difference.
To understand better, please find the below examples.
How to Calculate Percentage Difference in Excel?
To calculate the percentage difference in excel is very simple and easy. Let’s understand how to calculate the percentage difference in excel with some examples.
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Excel Percentage Difference – Example #1
Consider the employee’s population for 2018 and 2019 for a few cities.
Now we need to find the increase or decrease in the growth of employees from 2018 to 2019, which is nothing but the difference from 2018 to 2019.
Apply a simple formula to give the difference between 2018 and 2019. The formula will be shown in the below picture.
Press Enter to see the result.
We just need to drag the cell D2 downwards, and the formula will be applied for all the cells.
Now we found the difference; then we just need to convert a percentage to find the percentage difference of employees from 2018 to 2019 in excel.
Here base value will be 2018 values; hence we should calculate as per 2018 data. For that, divide the difference with the 2018 data.
That means the difference value of Hyderabad should be divided with 4300, similarly Chennai with 3700, Bangalore with 5000 and Mumbai with 4000.
The results will come like a decimal value. As discussed earlier, the percentage should always be compared with 100 parts; hence we multiple the results with 100 for the exact percentage.
Once we multiply with 100, we got the results of how much percentage, but we have multiple numbers after the decimal point to reduce or round off; follow the below steps.
Highlight all the cells and click on the option marked in the below picture until you have two numbers after the point.
This is fine if still, we want to show with percentage symbol select the option percentage from the dropdown menu as shown below.
The result will be as given below.
As per the picture, there is a 20.93 percent increase in Hyderabad from 2018 to 2019, 21.62 increase in Chennai, 6 percent reduce in Bangalore and a 2.50 percent increase in Mumbai. That mean 900 is 20.93 percent of 4300 similarly 800 is 21.62% 0f 3700, 300 is 6% of 5000 and 100 is 2.50% of 4000.
Excel Percentage Difference – Example #2
Consider an employee’s salary for three different years and calculate how much percentage difference is his salary for every year in excel. After finding the percentage, we will try to create a visualization for the same.
Observe the salary of the employee.
Now apply a formula to find the excel percentage difference in salary from one year to next year.
Observe the formula, B3, which is 450000; from that, we subtracted B2, which is 400000 and the difference multiplied by 100 and divide the results with B2, which is base salary 400000. That means the increase in salary from 2018 to 2017 is 12.5% in an amount it is 50,000.
Similarly, it is 26.66% from 2019 to 2018 and 14.03% from 2019 to 2020. I did not apply for 2020 as we should have taken 2021 salary to calculate the difference as we do not have that data; we cannot calculate the percentage difference in excel.
Now we can create a chart to represent the percentage growth visually. Now select the year and percentage of a different column by holding the CTRL-key.
After selecting both, the fields click on the Insert option. Later click on the Recommended charts option, which is highlighted with a red color box.
From the drop-down, we can select the required form of chart to represent them visually.
I selected one of the charts, and below is the picture for reference.
From the chart, we can observe the percentage change in every year. If the percentage is negative, the bar will show under baseline 0.
I hope it is clear now how to find the percentage, Percentage difference and how to show the percentage change in a visual chart.
Things to Remember About Percentage Difference in Excel
- The percentage difference in excel is nothing but the representation of the differences between past value and a current value in the form of a percentage considering past value as base value or a difference between the current value and future value in the form of a percentage considering current value as the base value.
- To find the percentage difference in excel, first, find the difference between the two numbers and divide this difference with the base value. After obtaining the results, multiply the decimal number by 100; this result will represent the percentage difference.
- We can apply round off if there are multiple numbers after a decimal point.
- The percentage difference in excel should not necessarily be positive; it can be negative also. It depends on the difference between the values.
- The positive percentage represents the growth, and the negative percentage represents the decrement or decrease in growth.
- This percentage difference in excel helps to compare or to understand how much growth is happening in the business or profits or any results related activities.
- We can apply this percentage difference in statistics too.
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