How to Calculate Percentage of a Number in Excel (5 Easy Ways) (2023)

We need to calculate percentages in our day-to-day lives quite often. Excel can help us get any percentage with ease and in no time at all. In this article, we will show you 5 easy ways to calculate percentages in Excel. We have considered different scenarios while calculating percentages. This article will answer all your queries related to how to calculate the percentage of a number in Excel.

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5 Easy Ways to Calculate Percentage of a Number in Excel

In this article, we have included 5 different scenarios and shown how how to calculate percentage of a number in Excel.

1. Percentage of a Number from Another Number (Percentile)

Suppose we are to determine the percentage of a number. In this case, we have 3 different columns namely Number, Percent, and Amount. We will find the percentage of the Number column in the Amount column.

To do so, we will multiply the number with the percentage. In the D5 cell, we will write,

Pressing the Enter key we will get the result in the D5 cell.

Now by dragging down or double-clicking the Fill Handle to use the AutoFill feature of Excel we will get values in corresponding cells.

Read More:How to Add 10 Percent to a Number in Excel (2 Easy Methods)

2. Getting Percentage from 2 Numbers in Excel

If we wish to find out how much a number is in terms of the percentage of other numbers we can do it using Excel. Consider the following example. We need to find out how much each student has obtained in terms of percentage of the total number. To do so, we need to divide obtained marks by total marks.

In cell E5 we type,

Pressing the ENTER key we will get the result.

Now to express it in percentage terms, we will go to the Number ribbon and select the Percentage symbol.

We can also go to the Drop Down menu and select Percentage.

We will get the results in a percentage format.

Now by dragging down or double-clicking the Fill Handle to use the AutoFill feature of Excel we will get values in corresponding cells.

Related Content: Percentage Difference between Two Percentages Excel (2 Easy Ways)

3. Calculating Percentage Change of a Number in Excel

We can calculate the percentage change of any data in terms of other data. Consider the following example. We are given the sales data of a company. It shows the sales of four quarters. We want to calculate the percentage change in sales with respect to the previous quarter. To do so, first, we need to find out the difference between sales in two successive quarters and divide it by the sales in the former quarter.

In cell D6 we type,

Pressing the Enter key we will find the result in cell D6.

Using the steps shown in the previous method we will find the percentage.

Now by dragging down or double-clicking the Fill Handle to use the AutoFill feature of Excel we will get values in corresponding cells.

Read More: Calculate Percentage Increase between 3 Numbers in Excel

Similar Readings:

• Subtract a Percentage in Excel (Easy Way)
• How to Calculate Percentage of Sales in Excel (5 Suitable Methods)
• Calculate Discount Percentage Formula in Excel
• How to Calculate Variance Percentage in Excel (3 Easy Methods)
• Find percentage between two numbers in Excel

4. Percentage of a Number in Terms of a Total

Now suppose in the example of the previous method we want to see how much the sale of each quarter in terms of total sales of that year.
To do so, first, we will calculate the total sales of the year by adding the sales of all 4 Quarters. To do so, we will simply add the sales of 4 quarters.

We have used the SUM function to add the values. Click to know more about the SUM function or how to add in Excel.

Then we will express the sales of each quarter in terms of sales of that year. To do so, we will simply divide the sale of each quarter by the total sales of the year.

In cell D5, we type

We use Absolute Referencing here as the total sales for the year remain the same for all the quarters.

Pressing the ENTER key we will get the result in cell D5.

We can turn the value into a percentage format by using the steps in method 2.

Now by dragging down or double-clicking the Fill Handle to use the AutoFill feature of Excel we will get values in corresponding cells.

Read More: How to Calculate Total Percentage in Excel (5 Ways)

5. Increase or Decrease a Number by a Percentage in Excel

Sometimes we want to increase or decrease a number by a percentage. Using Excel, we can do this in a jiffy!! Let’s look at the following image. We have some numbers in the Number column. We want to increase or decrease these numbers by the percentages in the Increase (Decrease) by Percent column. To do so, we will have to add the percentages with 1 and multiply them with the numbers.

In the D5 cell we type,

Pressing the ENTER key we will find the result in the D5 cell.

Now by dragging down or double-clicking the Fill Handle to use the AutoFill feature of Excel we will get values in corresponding cells.

Read More: How do you Calculate Percentage Increase or Decrease in Excel

Things to Remember

Percentage values should be less than 1 when they are in number format. Expressing values that are greater than 1 in percentage terms may result in a large number.

When calculating percentage increase or decrease, be careful about what you choose as the denominator. Selecting the wrong denominator may yield in the wrong result.

Practice Section

We have included a practice section in the worksheet provided so that you can practice the methods yourself.

Conclusion

Percentage calculation in Excel is a fairly easy and simple operation. This article has guided you through 5 different methods to do so. Feel free to reach out to us with any of your Excel-related problems. Our team will get back to you at the earliest convenience. If you have any queries, leave a comment or feedback below.

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