CAGR Calculator

CAGR answers a narrow question: what constant yearly growth rate would carry the starting value to the ending value in the time given? The calculator uses (final ÷ initial)^(1 ÷ years) − 1 and also shows the total growth and the absolute gain.

With the defaults, $100,000 growing to $200,000 in 5 years gives:

• CAGR 14.87%
• Total growth 100.00%
• Absolute gain $100,000

Notice that 100% over 5 years is not 20% a year. Each year's growth builds on the last, so a lower steady rate is enough to double.

The boxes show a dollar sign, but the formula doesn't care about units. Any quantity with a start, an end and a period works: sales, subscribers, units shipped, a home's estimated value, a fund's price.

A business whose revenue grew from $1.2 million to $2.1 million over 4 years has a CAGR of 15.02%, against 75.00% total growth. That one figure is what you would quote when comparing it with another company's growth over a different number of years.

Periods don't have to be whole years. Convert months to a decimal: 2 years and 9 months is 2.75. Doubling in 2.75 years is a CAGR of 28.67%.

CAGR only sees two numbers, so choosing them is where most misleading figures come from. Take revenue that ran $1.0M, $0.8M, $1.2M, $1.5M and $1.6M over five consecutive years.

Starting from the low year doubles the headline rate. When you read a CAGR someone else has published, check which years it spans. When you calculate one, use the full period you care about, not the most flattering window.

• Start at zero. Growth from nothing has no rate, and the CAGR line shows no figure.
• End at zero. The result is −100.00%.
• Negative values. A loss-making year as the start or end, such as negative profit, can't go into the formula. The result shows no figure.
• Money added or withdrawn. CAGR assumes a single starting amount. If you made deposits along the way, the result mixes your contributions with growth.

To project forward, run the formula the other way: future = today × (1 + CAGR)^years. $100,000 at 14.87% for 5 years returns to about $200,000. Keep in mind that a past CAGR describes what happened. It says nothing about what the next five years will do.