Year-Over-Year Growth Calculator — YoY % Change
Enter this year's and last year's value for any metric — revenue, active users, sales volume, or any KPI — to instantly see the year-over-year percentage change, absolute change and growth multiple.
Growth of 250,000 (+25 %)
- 1
Absolute change
1,250,000 − 1,000,000 = 250,000 - 2
YoY growth
250,000 ÷ |1,000,000| × 100 = 25The absolute value of the previous year is used so the sign is correct even for negative baselines.
How does this calculator work?
YoY % = (current − previous) ÷ |previous| × 100. Positive means growth; negative means decline. The denominator uses absolute value so the sign is correct even for negative baselines. For multi-year trends, use CAGR instead. The previous year value cannot be zero (division by zero is undefined).
Formula
How this is calculated
Year-over-year (YoY) growth compares a metric from one period to the same metric from the period exactly one year earlier, expressed as a percentage. The formula is (current − previous) ÷ |previous| × 100. Using the absolute value of the previous figure in the denominator ensures the sign is correct even when last year's figure was negative (e.g. a loss narrowing from −$1,000 to −$400 is a +60% improvement).
The "growth multiple" is simply current ÷ previous and expresses the same relationship differently: a 25% YoY increase equals a 1.25× multiple. For longer periods a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is more appropriate than a single YoY figure, because CAGR smooths out year-to-year volatility — but for two consecutive years YoY and the equivalent 1-year CAGR are identical.
When the previous year value is exactly zero the percentage change is mathematically undefined (division by zero) and the calculator shows a warning. For very small previous values the percentage can appear very large without reflecting a meaningful operational change — in those cases the absolute change is a clearer measure. Negative current-year values with positive prior-year values produce a negative YoY growth rate, indicating a decline.
Frequently asked questions
YoY growth compares a metric from the current period to the same metric from the equivalent period one year earlier, expressed as a percentage. It is widely used in business to strip out seasonality: comparing Q2 this year to Q2 last year, rather than to Q1 this year, removes the distortion of predictable seasonal patterns.
YoY is a single-period growth rate (one year). CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) averages growth across multiple years into a single annualised rate: CAGR = (end value / start value)^(1/n) − 1. For exactly two periods (one year apart) YoY and CAGR are identical. Over multiple years, CAGR is preferred because it accounts for compounding.
Yes. A negative YoY growth rate means the current value is lower than last year's — i.e. a decline. For example, if revenue fell from 1,000,000 to 900,000, YoY growth = (900,000 − 1,000,000) / 1,000,000 × 100 = −10%. This is also called a YoY contraction or decline.
Also known as
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. (2026). Year-Over-Year Growth Calculator — YoY % Change [Online calculator]. TG we-Calculate. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/year-over-year-growth-calculator
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. "Year-Over-Year Growth Calculator — YoY % Change." TG we-Calculate. 2026. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/year-over-year-growth-calculator.
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team, "Year-Over-Year Growth Calculator — YoY % Change," TG we-Calculate, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://we-calculate.com/calculator/year-over-year-growth-calculator
@misc{wecalculate_year_over_year_growth_calculator, title = {Year-Over-Year Growth Calculator — YoY % Change}, author = {{TG we-Calculate Editorial Team}}, howpublished = {\url{https://we-calculate.com/calculator/year-over-year-growth-calculator}}, year = {2026}, note = {TG we-Calculate} }
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