Year over year growth calculator

Each mode updates live as you type — no submit button.

Use Calculate YoY growth when you have last period and this period actuals. Use Project current value for planning from a baseline and target rate. Use Find prior value when this period’s goal is fixed and you need the implied prior number. Use Multi-year YoY table when you have at least three consecutive totals and want YoY for each step (not one blended CAGR).

In words: subtract prior from current, divide by prior, multiply by 100. The calculator applies this formula automatically as you type.

Calculate YoY: Last February revenue was $80,000; this February is $100,000. YoY = ((100,000 − 80,000) ÷ 80,000) × 100 = 25%, absolute change $20,000, growth factor 1.25.

Project current value: Prior period $850,000 with a 20% YoY target gives current = 850,000 × 1.20 = $1,020,000 (Project current value mode).

Find prior value: Target current $100,000 at 25% YoY implies prior = 100,000 ÷ 1.25 = $80,000 (Find prior value mode).

Multi-year steps: Totals $90,000 → $100,000 → $111,111 (oldest first) give 11.11% YoY on the latest step (Multi-year YoY table presets).

Decline: Prior $120,000, current $100,000 → YoY ≈ −16.67% — a valid year-over-year drop, not an error.

For sales growth, YoY uses the same math when you compare this year’s sales to the same period last year: last year in the prior field, this year in the current field. The YoY % is your headline sales growth rate.

You can apply the same approach to units sold, active customers, or average order value if both periods use the same definition. Strong order growth with flat average order value usually points to demand, not price mix alone.

Modeling runway alongside top-line growth? Pair YoY revenue with our break-even calculator or burn rate calculator.

These metrics answer different questions. YoY is the change between two matching periods — it can jump when one year included a promotion, outage, or one-off deal. CAGR is one average annual rate across a span, which smooths volatility in between. ROI compares gain to cost for a specific investment, not calendar-aligned operating KPIs.

Example: revenue moves from $50,000 to $100,000 (100% YoY), then to $130,000 (30% YoY). YoY tells the story each year; CAGR from $50k to $130k over two years is about 61% per year — one figure for long-range comparisons.

Need headline YoY for a single period pair? Stay on this page. Need a smoothed multi-year rate? Try the CAGR calculator. Need return on spend for a project? Use the ROI calculator.

There is no single “good” YoY rate — it depends on industry, stage, and the metric you track. Compare against your own history and comparable peers. In recent US cycles, nominal GDP growth has often been near 2–3% annually — a rough economy-wide reference, not inflation-adjusted and not a target for every company.

Eye-catching YoY percentages often come from a small prior base (for example $10k to $30k is 200% YoY but only $20k in absolute terms). Report absolute change alongside the rate.

The ranges below are illustrative planning benchmarks, not forecasts or guarantees.

Use YoY for operating KPIs by period. When investors ask for one blended rate across several years, the CAGR calculator is usually the better fit than stacking many YoY cells.

This calculator shows nominal YoY change — it does not adjust for inflation. If economy-wide prices rose about 3% but your revenue also grew 3% YoY, real volume may be flat even though the headline rate looks positive.

Example: prior-year revenue $100,000, current $103,000 → 3% nominal YoY. If CPI inflation was also about 3% over that span, purchasing-power growth is roughly flat.

For real growth, deflate both values with a price index (such as the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics) before applying the YoY formula, or use our inflation calculator for context. Many external reports still quote nominal YoY so periods stay comparable.