What is the formula used in Excel to calculate the percentage change between two numbers?

The standard formula to calculate the percentage change is (New Value - Old Value) / Old Value. In Excel, this translates to =(B2-A2)/A2, where B2 contains the new value and A2 contains the original (old) value. This formula first calculates the difference between the two values and then divides that difference by the original value to find the proportional change. The result must then be formatted as a percentage to be displayed correctly (e.g., 0.25 displayed as 25%).

B. =(A2-B2)/B2 is incorrect because it subtracts the new value from the old and, more importantly, divides by the new value as the base, which is mathematically incorrect for percentage change.

C. =PERCENTCHANGE(A2, B2) is incorrect as Excel does not have a built-in function named PERCENTCHANGE. This formula would result in a #NAME? error.

D. =B2/A2 is incorrect because this formula calculates the ratio of the new value to the old value, not the percentage change between them. For example, it would return 1.25 instead of 25%.

1. Microsoft Corporation. (n.d.). Calculate percentages. Microsoft Support. Retrieved from https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/calculate-percentages-c8627c31-0b45-4543-a4ea-9493fda6c6cd. See the section: "Calculate the percentage of change between two numbers

" which explicitly provides the formula: =(newvalue-oldvalue)/oldvalue.

2. University of Illinois Springfield. (n.d.). Excel: Formulas. LibGuides at Brookens Library. Retrieved from https://libguides.uis.edu/excel/formulas. The guide outlines fundamental calculations

where the principle for percentage change (New-Old)/Old is a standard arithmetic operation applied within Excel formulas.