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What is the Percentage Difference from 99 to 97?

From 99 to 97 is a 2.0202% decrease

Step by step

  1. Difference: 97 − 99 = -2
  2. Divide by the starting value: -2 ÷ 99 = -0.020202
  3. Multiply by 100: -2.0202%

How the answer is worked out

Percentage change measures a difference against the value you started with. The value went from 99 to 97, a difference of 2. Compared with the starting value of 99, that difference is 2.0202%, so this is a 2.0202% decrease.

The new value is 97.9798% of the old one: for every 100 at the start there are now 97.9798, so 2.0202 out of every 100 have gone.

Why calculate this?

Percentage change compares a new value with an old one regardless of size: price rises, growth, discounts, score changes.

  • Sales: a price cut from $99 to $97 is a 2.0202% discount.
  • Weight: going from 99 to 97 kilograms is a loss of 2.0202% of the starting weight.
  • Results: if a team scores 97 points this season after 99 last season, its total has dropped by 2.0202%.

A quicker way

Find 1% of the starting value: 99 ÷ 100 = 0.99. The difference of 2 is 2.0202 of those steps.

Percentage change is not the same as percentage points. If a rate moves from 99% to 97%, it changes by 2 percentage points, but by 2.0202% relative to where it started.

Check the answer

Work forwards from the start: 99 × (1 − 0.020202) = 99 × 0.979798 = 97. Getting 97 shows the answer is right.

Rounding

Rounded to a whole number the change is -2, to one decimal place -2.0 and to two decimal places -2.02. Round only at the end: rounding halfway through a calculation can change the last digit.

The formula explained

percentage change = (new value − old value) ÷ old value × 100. A positive result is an increase and a negative result is a decrease. The old value is always the base, which is why the change from A to B and from B to A are different percentages.

Another worked example: 19 to 12

  1. Difference: 12 − 19 = -7
  2. Divide by the starting value: -7 ÷ 19 = -0.368421
  3. Multiply by 100: -36.8421%

Why the change back is different

A 2.0202% fall followed by a 2.0202% rise does not bring you back to 99: it gives 98.9596. The second percentage is taken of 97, not of 99, so to undo this change you need 2.0619% instead.

Other ways to ask this

The same calculation is often asked in other words. All of these have the answer above:

  • Percentage decrease from 99 to 97
  • What percent less is 97 than 99?
  • 99 to 97 as a percent change
  • How much did 99 fall going to 97, in percent?
  • Relative change between 99 and 97

Terms used on this page

  • Old value: the starting amount, used as the base of the percentage.
  • New value: the amount after the change.
  • Increase: a positive change: the new value is bigger.
  • Percentage point: the plain difference between two rates, not a relative change.

The answer in other forms

Change-2.0202%
Difference-2
New ÷ old0.979798
Directiondecrease

Related results

99 to 95

From 99 to 95 is a 4.0404% decrease

99 to 96

From 99 to 96 is a 3.0303% decrease

99 to 98

From 99 to 98 is a 1.0101% decrease

99 to 107

From 99 to 107 is a 8.0808% increase

The other way round: Percentage difference from 97 to 99

Doing it in a spreadsheet

In Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers type =(97-99)/99*100 into any cell. Replace the numbers with cell references (for example A1 and B1) to reuse the formula for a whole column.

Common mistakes

Always divide by the starting value, not the new one. A rise from 40 to 50 is +25%, but the fall from 50 back to 40 is −20%.

Practice examples

19 to 12
Show answer

From 19 to 12 is a 36.8421% decrease

82 to 9
Show answer

From 82 to 9 is a 89.0244% decrease

1 to 79
Show answer

From 1 to 79 is a 7,800% increase

13 to 72
Show answer

From 13 to 72 is a 453.8462% increase

42 to 94
Show answer

From 42 to 94 is a 123.8095% increase

1 to 23
Show answer

From 1 to 23 is a 2,200% increase

82 to 56
Show answer

From 82 to 56 is a 31.7073% decrease

40 to 75
Show answer

From 40 to 75 is a 87.5% increase

39 to 25
Show answer

From 39 to 25 is a 35.8974% decrease

22 to 50
Show answer

From 22 to 50 is a 127.2727% increase

Calculate another

How this answer was calculated

The result is worked out from the numbers in this page's address when the page is opened, using exact arithmetic wherever possible and rounding only for display. Nothing is copied from a printed table. If you think an answer is wrong, please tell us through the contact page and we will check it.

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Questions

What is the Percentage Difference from 99 to 97?

Going from 99 to 97 is a 2.0202% decrease. Formula and steps.

Is going from 99 to 97 an increase or a decrease?

A decrease: the value fell by 2, which is 2.0202% of the starting value.

What is the percentage change from 97 back to 99?

2.0619%. It is a different number because the starting value is now 97, not 99.

What is the percentage difference between 99 and 97?

When neither value is the starting point, use the average as the base: 2 ÷ 98 × 100 = 2.0408%. That is the symmetric percentage difference.

How do I calculate percentage change in Excel or Google Sheets?

Put the old value in A1 and the new value in B1, then type =(B1-A1)/A1 and format the cell as a percentage. For these numbers it shows -2.0202%.