What formula does the CAGR Calculator use?

CAGR = ((ending value / beginning value) ^ (1 / years) − 1) × 100. This spreads the total growth evenly across each year rather than averaging simple annual returns.

What is CAGR used for?

Compound annual growth rate lets you compare investments, businesses, or metrics that grew over different time spans on the same annualized basis, rather than looking only at total percentage change.

How is CAGR different from the total growth percent the calculator also shows?

Total growth is the simple, uncompounded change from beginning to ending value over the whole period. CAGR converts that same change into a single, smoothed annual rate assuming steady compounding.

Can the CAGR Calculator show a negative rate?

Yes. If the ending value is lower than the beginning value, the calculator returns a negative CAGR, reflecting an average yearly decline over the period.

Does CAGR account for volatility or year-to-year swings?

No. CAGR only uses the beginning and ending values and the elapsed time — it assumes smooth compounding and does not reflect how much the value fluctuated in between.

CAGR Calculator

Work out the compound annual growth rate between a beginning and ending value, right in your browser. Estimates only — not financial advice.

The CAGR Calculator runs entirely in your browser. The values you type never leave your device and nothing is uploaded to ArrayKit. Figures shown are estimates only, not financial advice.

Open the ROI Calculator

About CAGR Calculator

The CAGR Calculator finds the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of an investment, portfolio, or business figure between a beginning value and an ending value over a number of years. Enter the beginning value, the ending value, and the holding period, and it applies CAGR = ((end / begin) ^ (1 / years) − 1) × 100 to show the smoothed, year-over-year rate along with the total, uncompounded growth over the whole period. It is built for investors, analysts, and students who want to compare returns on an apples-to-apples annual basis instead of a single lump total. Results update as you type, with clear guards on a zero or negative beginning value or holding period. Everything runs in your browser, so the figures you type never leave your device. Figures are estimates only and are not financial advice.

Features

Computes CAGR from a beginning value, ending value, and number of years
Shows total growth over the period alongside the annualized rate
Handles a declining value and reports a negative CAGR
Handles an unchanged value and reports a 0% CAGR
Guards against a zero or negative beginning value or year count
Copy a plain-text summary of the beginning value, ending value, and results
Updates instantly as you edit any field
Runs entirely in your browser with no investment figures uploaded

How to use the CAGR Calculator

Enter the beginning value of the investment or metric
Enter the ending value at the end of the period
Enter the number of years between the two values
Read the CAGR percent per year and the total growth percent

Example

Input

$1,000 -> $2,000 in 5 yr

Output

CAGR: 14.87%

A $1,000 value that doubles to $2,000 over 5 years grew at a compound annual rate of 14.87%.

Common errors & troubleshooting

CAGR result shows as an error or is blank. — The CAGR Calculator needs a beginning value and a year count greater than 0 — a beginning value of $0 or a 0-year period cannot be compounded.
CAGR seems too low compared to the total percentage gain. — CAGR spreads the total growth evenly across every year, so a large total gain over many years produces a smaller annual rate than the same gain over one year.
Result is a negative percentage. — A negative CAGR is expected when the ending value is lower than the beginning value — it means the value shrank on average each year, not that the calculation failed.
Not sure whether to enter whole years or fractions. — You can enter a decimal like 2.5 for two and a half years; the CAGR Calculator accepts any positive number of years.

Frequently asked questions

What formula does the CAGR Calculator use?: CAGR = ((ending value / beginning value) ^ (1 / years) − 1) × 100. This spreads the total growth evenly across each year rather than averaging simple annual returns.
What is CAGR used for?: Compound annual growth rate lets you compare investments, businesses, or metrics that grew over different time spans on the same annualized basis, rather than looking only at total percentage change.
How is CAGR different from the total growth percent the calculator also shows?: Total growth is the simple, uncompounded change from beginning to ending value over the whole period. CAGR converts that same change into a single, smoothed annual rate assuming steady compounding.
Can the CAGR Calculator show a negative rate?: Yes. If the ending value is lower than the beginning value, the calculator returns a negative CAGR, reflecting an average yearly decline over the period.
Does CAGR account for volatility or year-to-year swings?: No. CAGR only uses the beginning and ending values and the elapsed time — it assumes smooth compounding and does not reflect how much the value fluctuated in between.
Does the CAGR Calculator upload my investment figures?: No. The CAGR Calculator runs entirely in your browser. The values you type never leave your device and are not uploaded to ArrayKit.

Related tools

ROI Calculator — Calculate return on investment, net gain and annualized ROI.
Investment Calculator — Solve for the ending amount, return, contribution or time of an investment.
IRR Calculator — Compute the internal rate of return and NPV from a series of cash flows.
Compound Interest Calculator — Project savings growth with compound interest and optional regular contributions.
Future Value Calculator — Find the future value of a present sum or a stream of payments.