The formula
Percent change (fill down)ExcelGoogle Sheets
=(B2-A2)/A2In D2 → 15%
Zero-safe version (fill down)ExcelGoogle Sheets
=IF(A2=0,"n/a",(B2-A2)/A2)In E2 → 15%
Gain needed to recover a lossExcelGoogle Sheets
=A3/B3-1In F3 → 25%
✓ Tested. All 6 Excel results in this example were recalculated in LibreOffice Calc 25.2 and matched the values shown.
Worked example
Paste the data below into a blank sheet starting at cell A1 (or download the cheat sheet, where every example is set up). Highlighted cells hold the formulas and show the expected results.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old | New | ||||
| 2 | 80 | 92 | 15% | 15% | ||
| 3 | 250 | 200 | -20% | -20% | 25% | |
| 4 | 0 | 15 | n/a |
How it works
- B2-A2
- Change.
- /A2
- Relative to the starting value.
- IF(A2=0,…)
- Percent change from 0 is undefined.
- A3/B3-1
- A 20% drop (250 → 200) needs +25% to get back.
Common errors and fixes
Why does the formula return #DIV/0!?
Old value is 0. Use the zero-safe version.
Shows 0.15?
Format as percentage.
Does this work in Google Sheets?
Yes. The formulas on this page work the same way in Google Sheets.