Percentage Difference Calculator
Calculate the percentage difference between any two numbers
Percentage Difference Examples
Example 1: Price Comparison
Compare prices: $50 and $75
Difference: 40%
|75 - 50| ÷ ((75 + 50) ÷ 2) × 100 = 40%
Example 2: Test Scores
Compare scores: 85 and 95
Difference: 11.11%
|95 - 85| ÷ ((95 + 85) ÷ 2) × 100 = 11.11%
Example 3: Population Change
Compare populations: 10,000 and 12,000
Difference: 18.18%
|12000 - 10000| ÷ ((12000 + 10000) ÷ 2) × 100 = 18.18%
Percentage Difference Formula
% Difference = |Value₁ - Value₂| ÷ ((Value₁ + Value₂) ÷ 2) × 100
How to Calculate Percentage Difference:
- Find the absolute difference between the two values
- Calculate the average (mean) of the two values
- Divide the difference by the average
- Multiply by 100 to get the percentage
Note: Percentage difference is always positive and shows how far apart two numbers are relative to their average.
Benefits & Features
Our percentage difference calculator provides essential benefits for analyzing changes and variations:
Versatile Analysis
- Percentage increase/decrease
- Relative change calculation
- Absolute difference
- Growth rate analysis
- Trend comparison
Business Applications
- Sales performance tracking
- Market share changes
- Cost variation analysis
- Revenue growth metrics
- Budget comparisons
Data Insights
- Statistical comparisons
- Year-over-year analysis
- Performance metrics
- Variance reporting
- Trend identification
Frequently Asked Questions
What is percentage difference?
Percentage difference measures how far apart two numbers are relative to their average. It's commonly used for:
- Comparing prices between competitors
- Analyzing data variations in research
- Measuring performance differences
- Evaluating market price fluctuations
- Comparing statistical data sets
What's the difference between percentage difference and percentage change?
These calculations serve different purposes:
- Percentage Difference: Compares two values relative to their average, always positive
- Percentage Change: Shows increase/decrease from initial value, can be positive or negative
- Example: For values 100 and 150:
- Percentage difference = 40%
- Percentage change = 50% increase
When should I use percentage difference?
Use percentage difference when:
- Comparing two independent values
- Neither value is a "starting point"
- You need a symmetric comparison
- Analyzing variations in scientific data
- Comparing prices between competitors
- Evaluating measurement precision