Percentage Calculator South Africa
Calculate percentages, percentage change, and percentage of a number
This calculator handles common percentage calculations.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I calculate a percentage?
Percentage = (Part ÷ Whole) × 100. For example, 25 out of 200 = (25÷200)×100 = 12.5%.
How do I calculate percentage change?
Percentage change = ((New – Old) ÷ Old) × 100. If a price goes from R100 to R120, the change is ((120-100)÷100)×100 = 20% increase.
What is the difference between percentage and percentile?
Percentage is a fraction of 100. Percentile is a position in a ranked list — being in the 90th percentile means you scored better than 90% of people.
This calculator handles common percentage calculations.
How the percentage calculator works
Three questions hide behind “percentage”: what is X% of Y; X is what percent of Y; and the percentage change from X to Y. Each uses a different denominator, and mixing them is where answers go wrong.
12% of R250 is R30,00. Increasing R250 by 12% gives R280,00. But decreasing R280,00 by 12% gives R246,40 — not back to R250.
That asymmetry is why a 20% drop needs a 25% rise to recover: R100,00 less 20% is R80,00, and R80,00 plus 25% is R100,00.
What changes the answer in South Africa
Percentage change is always relative to the starting value. A price that rises 10% and then falls 10% has fallen 1%, not returned to its original. Salary increases compound in the same way, which is why a 6% increase after a 5% one is 11,3%, not 11%.
Common questions about the percentage calculator
How do I calculate a percentage increase?
Divide the change by the original and multiply by 100. From 250 to 280 the change is 30, so 30 ÷ 250 × 100 = 12%.
Why does a 10% rise then a 10% fall not cancel out?
Because the second percentage applies to the new, larger number. 100 → 110 → 99.
How do I work out the original price before VAT?
Divide the inclusive price by 1,15 — not multiply by 0,85. The two answers differ by about 2%.