Google Sheets is one platform where you could achieve this calculation. Calculating percentage change in Google Sheets is simple and requires only a single formula using basic math functions. Read on to learn how you can calculate percentage changes in Google Sheets.

How to Calculate Percentage Change in Google Sheets

Before writing the formula, let’s review what a percentage change is. Percentage change is the difference between two values divided by the original value and then multiplied by 100. The final multiplication is necessary to get a percent.

Now with that out of the way, it’s time to calculate the percentage change in Google Sheets by creating a simple formula for it.

Here we have an example of the scores a group of students acquired in their two chemistry exams throughout the semester. The goal is to use percentage change to see which students have progressed, which ones have regressed, and by how much they have done so.

Select the cell where you want to show the percentage change. That will be cell D2 in our example. Go to the formula bar and enter the formula below: =(C2-B2)/B2*100 This formula deducts the first value from the second value, divides it by the first value, and then multiples it by 100 to get a percentage. Press Enter. Google Sheets will now calculate the percentage change for that student’s chemistry scores. Grab the fill handle and drop it on the cells below. The percentage change for all the students will now appear.

There you have it! Now you can see how much each student has progressed or regressed in their chemistry marks. A negative percentage means that the student has regressed, and a positive percentage means that the student has progressed.

If you don’t like the extra decimals, you can remove them with formatting.

Select the cells containing the percentage changes. That is cells D2 to D9 in our example. From the menu, go to Format and select Number. At the bottom of the list, select Custom number format. In the text box, enter a zero and put a decimal point after it, followed by zeroes. The number of zeroes you put after the decimal point will determine how many decimals the cell will have. In this example, we’re going to put in 0. 00 to get two decimals. Click Apply.

Observe that your percentage changes now have only two decimals. That should make your spreadsheet look tidier! If you want to learn more about formatting to better present your spreadsheets, read our article on the best tips for formatting in Google Sheets.

Calculate the Change With Google Sheets

By calculating the percentage change between two values, you can see by what percentage each value has changed compared to the original.

Google Sheets is a wonderful web-based spreadsheet app, and the more you learn about the things you can do with Google Sheets, the better you get at maximizing its potential.