How to Calculate Growth Rate
Growth rate shows how rapidly a quantity increases from one value to another across uniform intervals. Whether you are tracking a production line, monitoring biological proliferation, or forecasting technological adoption, the compound growth rate reveals the steady multiplier that links an initial measurement with its later counterpart across each period.
The compound growth rate is calculated with the formula:
Growth Rate (%) = ((Final Value / Initial Value)^(1 / Number of Periods) – 1) × 100
- Divide the final value by the initial value to get the growth factor.
- Take the n'th root of that factor, where n is the number of intervals you observed.
- Subtract 1 to isolate the fractional change per period, then multiply by 100 to express it as a percentage.
This represents the average percentage increase per period assuming growth compounds at the same rate during every interval.
Example: A vertical farm increases nutrient solution delivery from 120 liters to 185 liters over three consecutive production weeks. Divide 185 by 120 to get 1.5417, take the cube root to find 1.1513, subtract 1, and multiply by 100. The farm's weekly growth rate is roughly 15.13%, so each new week the solution volume multiplies by about 1.1513.
Use this calculator to plug in your own starting value, ending value, and the number of periods to determine the compound growth rate for your metric.