Decrease by percentage

Decrease by percentage

Generic formula 

=number*(1-percent)

Related formulas 

Increase by percentage

Get original price from percentage discount

Explanation

If you need to decrease a number by a certain percentage, you can use a simple formula that multiplies the number times the percent - 1.

How the formula works

In the example, the active cell contains this formula:

=C6*(1-D6)

In this case, Excel first calculates the result of 1 - the value in D6 (.2) to get 0.8 which it then multiplies times the value in C6 (70) to get a final result of 56:

=70 * (1 - .2)
=70 * (0.8)
=56

Note that must subtract the percent from 1 if you want to decrease a number. If you don't, you'll simply get the amount of the number that the percentage represents.

Decrease by percentage

Generic formula 

=number*(1-percent)

Related formulas 

Increase by percentage

Get original price from percentage discount

Explanation

If you need to decrease a number by a certain percentage, you can use a simple formula that multiplies the number times the percent - 1.

How the formula works

In the example, the active cell contains this formula:

=C6*(1-D6)

In this case, Excel first calculates the result of 1 - the value in D6 (.2) to get 0.8 which it then multiplies times the value in C6 (70) to get a final result of 56:

=70 * (1 - .2)
=70 * (0.8)
=56

Note that must subtract the percent from 1 if you want to decrease a number. If you don't, you'll simply get the amount of the number that the percentage represents.