Whether you’re a student trying to figure out your grade on a test or a business owner trying to calculate your company’s profit margins, understanding how to find the percentage difference between two numbers is a valuable skill. While there are a few different methods, you can use to calculate this figure; some are more accurate than others. This blog post will show you how to find the percentage difference between two numbers and explain when you should use each method.
Method 1: The Basic Formula
The most basic way to find the percentage difference between two numbers is to use this formula:
Percentage Difference = (|Number 1 – Number 2| / ((Number 1 + Number 2)/2)) * 100
Let’s say you want to find the percentage difference between 20 and 30. Plugging those numbers into the formula, we get:
Percentage Difference = (|20 – 30| / ((20 + 30)/2)) * 100 = (10 / 25) * 100 = 40%
Method 2: The Relative Change Formula
Another way to find the percentage difference between two numbers is to use the relative change formula. This formula is often used when one of the numbers is very small relative to the other. The relative change formula is as follows:
Percentage Difference = ((Number 1 – Number 2)/Number 2) * 100
For example, let’s say we want to find the percentage change in sales from one month to the next. Here, we would use the relative change formula since sales figures are often relatively small numbers. If our sales went from $1,000 last month to $1,200 this month, we would plug those numbers into the formula like so:
Percentage Difference = (($1,200 – $1,000)/$1,000) * 100 = 20%
Method 3: The Percentage Change Point Formula
Another way to calculate percentage change is using the “percentage change point” method. To use this method, subtract one number from another and divide that result by one of the original numbers. Then, multiply that result by 100. The mathematical equation looks like this:
Percentage Difference Point = ((Number 1 – Number 2)/Number 1) * 100
For example, if we wanted to calculate what happened to our sales from last month to this month using this method, it would look like this: Percentage Difference Point = (($1,200 – $1,000)/$1,000) * 100 = 0.2 * 100 = 20%
Method 4: The Average Absolute Deviation Approach
Finally, another method you can use to find percentage change is called the average absolute deviation approach. To Calculate percentage change using this method, first, take the absolute value of each number’s deviation from their mean average. Next, divide their sum by two times n-1, where n equals the total data pairs in your sample set (or, in our case, full months). Finally, multiply that result by 100, and you have your answer!
Thus we see that no matter which method you choose for finding a percentage change between two sets of data, there will always be some level of error involved due simply to rounding errors in some instances; however, these methods will give you a reasonable estimate for what has occurred over a given period.
Conclusion:
No matter which method you choose for finding a percentage change between two sets of data, there will always be some level of error involved due to simply rounding errors in some instances; however, these methods will give you a reasonable estimate of what has occurred over a given period.