How to increase a number by a percentage
✓ Verified in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3Add a percentage to a value in one step — a 10% raise, a price plus tax, a target bumped up by 15%.
The formula
| App | Formula | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Excel | =A2*(1+B2) | A2 = the value, B2 = the percent (as 0.1 or a cell formatted 10%). The 1+ keeps the original and adds the increase in one multiply. |
| Google Sheets | =A2*(1+B2) | Identical. For a literal percent: =A2*1.1 adds 10%. |
| LibreOffice Calc | =A2*(1+B2) | Identical. |
How it works
Multiplying by (1 + rate) grows a number by that rate in a single step: 200 × (1 + 0.1) = 220, i.e. the original 200 plus 10% (20). The key is the 1+, which preserves the starting value — A2*B2 alone would give just the 20 increase, not the new total. Enter the rate as a decimal (0.1) or type 10% into the cell, which Excel and Sheets store as 0.1 automatically. To decrease instead, subtract: =A2*(1-B2) takes 10% off. To find what rate turns one number into another, rearrange to =(new-old)/old (see percentage-change). Chaining increases isn't additive — two 10% rises multiply to 1.1×1.1 = 21% total, not 20%.
Verified, not just documented
We ran =A2*(1+B2) in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3 (headless, with forced recalculation) and it returned 220 — exactly the expected result. Every formula here is confirmed by actually executing it.