Matemáticas
Percentage Points Are Not Percentages
A pass rate going from 40% to 44% rose by 4 percentage points and by 10%. Both calculations shown in full, plus what a basis point means on a mortgage rate.
Percentage point
A percentage point is the difference between two percentages found by subtracting one from the other, as distinct from the percentage change between them.
- También llamado
- Percentage points, pp
- Dónde lo encuentra el alumnado
- GCSE and IGCSE percentage change questions, and in any data-handling or SAT reading task that quotes survey or polling figures.
La respuesta corta
A percentage point is the plain arithmetic difference between two percentages. A pass rate going from 40% to 44% has risen by 4 percentage points — and by 10%, because 4 is a tenth of 40. Both figures describe the same change and both are correct; they answer different questions.
Un ejemplo
40% → 44%: 44 − 40 = 4 percentage points; 4 ÷ 40 = 0.1 = a 10% increase
Subtracting gives the change in percentage points. Dividing the change by the starting figure gives the percentage change. The two answers differ because they measure against different things: 4 points measures against the percentage scale, 10% measures against the original 40.
The two calculations, side by side
The gap between the two answers widens dramatically at the low end of the scale and closes at the high end, which is exactly why the distinction is worth having. A move from 5% to 10% is 5 percentage points, but it is a 100% increase — the figure has doubled.
Run it the other way and the same thing happens. A fall from 80% to 76% is a drop of 4 percentage points, but only a 5% fall, because 4 out of 80 is a twentieth. Same 4-point move, and a very different story depending on where it starts.
- 40% → 44%: 4 percentage points, a 10% increase
- 5% → 10%: 5 percentage points, a 100% increase
- 80% → 76%: 4 percentage points down, a 5% decrease
- 2% → 3%: 1 percentage point, a 50% increase
Why the wording is not fussiness
'Interest rates rose by 2%' is genuinely ambiguous. It could mean a rise from 3% to 5%, which is a 2-percentage-point rise, or from 3% to 3.06%, which is a 2% rise. The first is a serious change to a mortgage payment and the second is barely noticeable.
Finance avoids the ambiguity entirely with basis points: one basis point is a hundredth of a percentage point, so a rise of 25 basis points is a rise of 0.25 percentage points. When a central bank announcement is quoted in basis points, that is what is being avoided.
Reading the three phrasings
In an exam question, three forms of words ask for three different things, and mixing them up loses the marks rather than the arithmetic. 'Rose by 4 percentage points' means add 4 to the percentage. 'Rose by 4%' means multiply by 1.04. 'Rose to 44%' hands you the new figure directly.
When a question asks 'by what percentage did the pass rate increase', it wants 10%, not 4 — even though 4 is where the working started. Divide the change by the original value and the percentage-point figure becomes the percentage change.
Preguntas frecuentes
Is a percentage point the same as a percent?
No. A percentage point is a step on the percentage scale, found by subtracting. A percent is a proportion of some starting amount, found by dividing. Going from 40% to 44% is 4 percentage points and a 10% increase, so the two words describe the identical change with different numbers.
What is a basis point?
One hundredth of a percentage point, so 100 basis points make 1 percentage point. Banks and central banks use them for interest-rate changes because a phrase like 'a rise of 25 basis points' cannot be misread, whereas 'a rise of 0.25%' can be taken as a proportional rise instead.
How do I turn percentage points into a percentage change?
Divide the change by the original percentage, then multiply by 100. A rise of 4 percentage points starting from 40% is 4 ÷ 40 = 0.1, which is a 10% increase. The same 4 points starting from 20% would be 4 ÷ 20 = 0.2, a 20% increase — the starting figure changes the answer.
Which one does an exam question want?
Read the preposition and the noun. 'By how many percentage points' wants the subtraction. 'By what percentage' wants the change divided by the original. If neither phrase appears and the question just says the figure 'rose by 4%', treat that as a proportional rise and multiply by 1.04.
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