How to Calculate Percentage in Excel?

We all know that for everyday calculations, our minds or simple calculators can be sufficient. However, when working with large datasets, performing intricate analyses, or creating complex visualisations, we need specialised software tools to maintain accuracy and save time. These tools are designed to tackle complex mathematical problems, and they perform better than humans. They also help us in making informed decisions efficiently. One such powerful tool is Microsoft Excel, which performs complex mathematical calculations and allows us to make business decisions quickly. In this blog, we will focus on the concept of the percentage formula in Excel and how it is applied in everyday life.

Importance of Percentage And Its Applications in Real Life

• You can easily understand and compare proportions with the help of percentages.
• We need percentages in the concepts of interest rates, discounts, budgeting, investment returns, inflation, unemployment, market share, etc.
• Percentage is used in Data Analysis, Interpretation, and everyday decision-making.

Understanding and Comparing Proportions: The fundamental ability of percentages is to represent parts of a whole in a standardized way, facilitating easy comparison across different quantities and datasets, regardless of their absolute size. This includes basic understanding of proportions and their use in making relative comparisons.

Financial and Economic Applications: This division highlights the pervasive use of percentages in managing personal finances and understanding broader economic indicators. It emphasizes their role in making informed financial decisions and interpreting economic data.

This area focuses on how percentages are used to analyze data in various fields (statistics, market research, science), express change and probability, and aid in numerous everyday decisions, from calculating tips to understanding nutritional information and evaluating performance.

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How To Calculate Percentage In Excel

Formula for percentage of total in Excel 

Let’s now see the simplest way Excel teaches us to calculate percentages.

To display this result as a percentage (e.g., 25% instead of 0.25), you’ll then need to format the cell containing this formula as a percentage.

Explanation

• Part: This represents the specific value or quantity you want to express as a percentage of the whole. It’s the numerator in the fraction.
• Total: This represents the entire amount or sum that the “Part” belongs to. It’s the denominator in the fraction.
• /: This is the division operator. Excel divides the “Part” by the “Total” to get a decimal value representing the proportion.

The Basic formula for percentage in Excel 

Calculating a percentage involves dividing the part by the whole and multiplying by 100. In Excel, you can achieve this directly or by formatting the result as a percentage.

Method 1: Direct Calculation

• Identify the “Part” and the “Whole”: Determine which value represents the portion you’re interested in (the part) and which value represents the total (the whole).
• Enter the Data: Input your “part” and “whole” values into separate cells in your Excel sheet. For example, you might have the “part” in cell A2 and the “whole” in cell B2.
• Write the Excel percentage formula: 

• Replace A2 with the cell containing the “part” value.
• Replace B2 with the cell containing the “whole” value.
• The *100 at the end converts the decimal result into a percentage.

Press Enter: Excel will calculate the result.

Method 2: Formatting as a Percentage

This method performs the division and then formats the resulting decimal as a percentage, which is often cleaner.

• Identify the “Part” and the “Whole”: As in Method 1.
• Enter the Data: Input your “part” and “whole” values into separate cells.
• Write the Division Formula: In an empty cell, enter the formula to divide the part by the whole:

• Again, adjust A2 and B2 to match your data.
• Press Enter: Excel will display the result as a decimal (e.g., 0.25).
• Format as Percentage:
• Select the cell containing the decimal result.
• Go to the Home tab on the Excel ribbon.
• In the Number group, click the Percent Style button (it looks like a % symbol).
• Alternatively, you can press Ctrl + Shift + % (or Cmd + Shift + % on a Mac).
• Excel will format the decimal as a percentage (e.g., 25%). You can further adjust the number of decimal places displayed using the Increase Decimal and Decrease Decimal buttons in the Number group.

Examples

Let’s illustrate with three common scenarios:

Example 1: Calculating the Percentage of Sales Achieved

• Scenario: Your sales target for the month was 50,000, and you achieved 35,000 in sales. What percentage of your target did you reach?
• Data:
• Cell A2 (Part – Sales Achieved): 35000
• Cell B2 (Whole – Sales Target): 50000

Formula (in cell C2 using Method 1):

• Result: 70

Formula (in cell C2 using Method 2):

Result: 0.7 After formatting cell C2 as a percentage: 70.00% (you can adjust the decimal places). Hope you are clear on how to calculate percentage in Excel now.

Example 2: Finding the Percentage Increase

• Scenario: Last year, your company had 200 employees. This year, you have 230 employees. What is the percentage increase in the number of employees?
• Data:
• Cell A2 (Original Value – Last Year’s Employees): 200
• Cell B2 (New Value – This Year’s Employees): 230

Formula (in cell C2): To find the percentage increase, you calculate the difference, divide by the original value, and then multiply by 100:

Result: 15

Formula (in cell C2 using Method 2 for the division):

Result: 0.15 After formatting cell C2 as a percentage: 15.00%

Example 3: Calculating the Percentage of a Category within a Total

• Scenario: You have a list of expenses given in rupees: Rent (15,000), Salaries (60,000), and Marketing (25,000). What percentage of the total expenses is spent on Marketing?
• Data:
• Cell A2 (Expense Category): Rent
• Cell B2 (Amount): 15000
• Cell A3 (Expense Category): Salaries
• Cell B3 (Amount): 60000
• Cell A4 (Expense Category): Marketing
• Cell B4 (Amount – Part): 25000
• Cell B5 (Total Expenses – Whole): =SUM(B2:B4) (This will calculate 100,000)

Formula (in cell C4 to find the percentage for Marketing using Method 1):

Result: 25

Formula (in cell C4 using Method 2):

Result: 0.25 After formatting cell C4 as a percentage: 25.00%.

This suffices your doubts on how to get percentage in Excel. Essential Interview Tips to help you clear interviews related to Excel jobs.

Example for student percentage formula in Excel

Imagine a student record. The table below shows the marks obtained by a student in 5 subjects against a total of 100 marks. 

Formula: The core formula to calculate the overall percentage is:

In our example, if the “Marks obtained” are in column B (rows 2 to 6) and “Total marks” are in column C (rows 2 to 6), the formula in an empty cell would be:

Explanation

• SUM(B2:B6): This part of the formula adds up all the points the student scored (75 + 80 + 90 + 70 + 85 = 400).
• SUM(C2:C6): This part adds up the total possible points for all subjects (100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 = 500).
• /: The division operator then divides the total points obtained (400) by the total possible points (500), resulting in a decimal value (0.8). Excel Interview Questions and Answers help you prepare well for the Excel job interviews.

Formatting as a Percentage: To display this decimal as a percentage:

• Choose the cell where you entered the formula.
• Go to the Home tab in Excel.
• Click the Percent Style button (the % symbol) in the Number group.
• Excel will then format the result as 80%.

The following Excel sheet shows an example of how student marks percentage is calculated using the total percentage formula in Excel.

To conclude, make use of the percentage formula in Excel for finding percentage values and make your mathematical calculations easier. Excel Training in Bangalore help you master the tool. There are several other formulae in Excel to perform simple to complex mathematical calculations that save your time and provide accurate results without any mistakes. Learn and grow with Excel and make your life simple.