How to Calculate Improvement Percentage

Improvement Percentage Calculator

Result:

How to Calculate Improvement Percentage

Calculating the percentage of improvement is a fundamental mathematical skill used to measure progress over time. Whether you are tracking business revenue growth, athletic performance, or academic grades, the process remains the same: you compare where you started (the baseline) with where you are now (the new value).

Improvement % = ((Current Value – Initial Value) / Initial Value) × 100

Step-by-Step Calculation Guide

Follow these three simple steps to manually calculate your improvement:

1. Subtract: Take your current value and subtract the initial value. This gives you the raw "increase."
2. Divide: Divide that increase by the original (initial) value. This gives you the decimal representation of the growth.
3. Convert: Multiply the decimal result by 100 to turn it into a percentage.

Realistic Examples

Example 1: Sales Performance
If a store sold 200 items last month (Initial) and 250 items this month (Current):
(250 – 200) = 50
50 / 200 = 0.25
0.25 × 100 = 25% Improvement.

Example 2: Speed Improvement
A runner reduced their 5k time from 30 minutes to 24 minutes. Note: In time-based metrics, a lower number is often an "improvement," but to use this specific formula for performance gain, you would calculate the speed increase (distance/time).

When to Use This Calculator

This calculator is perfect for:

• Business: Tracking Year-over-Year (YoY) or Month-over-Month (MoM) growth.
• Fitness: Measuring increases in weight lifted or repetitions completed.
• Education: Comparing test scores from the beginning of the semester to the end.
• Finances: Calculating the growth of an investment portfolio balance.

Note: If the result is negative, it indicates a decrease or "decline" rather than an improvement.