Percent Change

 

The percent change formula is used very often in Excel. For example, to calculate the Monthly Change and Total Change.

1a. Select cell C3 and enter the formula shown below.

Percent Change Formula in Excel

1b. Select cell C3. On the Home tab, in the Number group, apply a Percentage format.

Percentage Format

1c. Select cell C3, click on the lower right corner of cell C3 and drag it down to cell C13.

Drag Formula Down

1d. Check if everything went alright.

Relative Reference

2a. In a similar way, we can calculate the Total Change. This time we fix the reference to cell B2. Select cell D3 and enter the formula shown below.

Total Change

2b. Select cell D3. On the Home tab, in the Number group, apply a Percentage format.

Percentage Format

2c. Select cell D3, click on the lower right corner of cell D3 and drag it down to cell D13.

2d. Check if everything went alright.

Absolute Reference

Explanation: when we drag the formula down, the absolute reference ($B$2) stays the same, while the relative reference (B3) changes to B4, B5, B6, etc.

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