A percentage change is a way to express a change in a variable. It represents the relative change between the old value and the new one.
For example, if a house today is worth $100,000 and the year after its worth goes up to $110,000, the percentage change of its worth can be expressed as
It can then be said that the worth of the house went up by 10%.
More generally, if V1 represents the old value and V2 the new one,
When the variable in question is a percentage itself, it is better to talk about its change by using percentage points, to avoid confusion between relative difference and absolute difference.
Read more about this topic: Relative Change And Difference
Famous quotes containing the words percentage and/or change:
“There is a potential 4-6 percentage point net gain for the President [George Bush] by replacing Dan Quayle on the ticket with someone of neutral stature.”
—Mary Matalin, U.S. Republican political advisor, author, and James Carville b. 1946, U.S. Democratic political advisor, author. All’s Fair: Love, War, and Running for President, p. 205, Random House (1994)
“Heat of blood makes young people change their inclinations often, and habit makes old ones keep to theirs a great while.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)