# Year-Over-Year Growth Formula: Calculate YoY % in Excel

- URL: https://betteranalyst.com/metrics/year-over-year-growth
- Published: 2026-10-31
- Updated: 2026-10-31
- Author: David Bressler, Founder (https://betteranalyst.com/authors/david-bressler)

> **Summary:** Year-over-year growth = (This period − Same period last year) ÷ Same period last year × 100. Comparing to the same month last year removes seasonality. A restaurant group that sold $454,500 in October 2026 versus $428,000 in October 2025 grew 6.2% YoY.

Category: [Finance](https://betteranalyst.com/metrics#finance)

Year-over-year growth formula with a multi-location sales example, the Excel formula, how to handle negatives, and why totals beat averages.

## Year-over-year (YoY) growth formula

```
YoY growth % = (Current period value − Prior-year period value) ÷ Prior-year period value × 100
```

- **Current period value**: The metric for the latest period, such as October 2026 sales.
- **Prior-year period value**: The same metric for the matching period one year earlier, such as October 2025 sales.

## How to calculate year-over-year (YoY) growth in Excel and Google Sheets

Excel, using the cells in the worked example below:

```
=(SUM(C2:C4)-SUM(B2:B4))/SUM(B2:B4)
```

## Worked example

A three-location restaurant group compares October sales with last October to see whether a new airport unit is masking weakness elsewhere.

*October sales by location (table starts in cell A1)*

| Location | Oct 2025 | Oct 2026 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Downtown | $186,400 | $201,300 |
| Riverside | $142,900 | $131,800 |
| Airport | $98,700 | $121,400 |

1. Total October 2025 = $428,000; total October 2026 = $454,500.
2. Increase = 454,500 − 428,000 = $26,500, and group YoY = 26,500 ÷ 428,000 = 6.2%.
3. By location, put =(C2-B2)/B2 in D2 and fill down: Downtown +8.0%, Riverside −7.8%, Airport +23.0%.
4. Without Airport, the other two grew (333,100 − 329,300) ÷ 329,300 = 1.2%, so most of the group's growth comes from one site.

**Result:** 6.2% year-over-year growth for the group

## How to interpret year-over-year (YoY) growth

YoY is the cleanest way to read growth in seasonal businesses, because October is compared with October rather than September. It still carries calendar noise: a month with one extra weekend, a holiday that moved, or a closure last year can shift YoY by several points. For restaurants and retail, compare like-for-like (same-store) growth separately from total growth, since new locations inflate the total. If last year's number was unusually low or high, YoY says more about last year than about this one.

## Common mistakes

- Averaging location-level YoY percentages. The mean of 8.0%, −7.8% and 23.0% is 7.7%, not the group's 6.2%; always divide totals.
- Dividing by a negative or zero base. YoY on a loss that shrank from −$50k to −$20k is not '+60%'; report the absolute change instead.
- Comparing different day counts or trading days. Adjust or compare weekday-aligned periods for daily businesses.
- Including new locations in a 'growth' story. Report same-store growth separately.

## Calculate year-over-year (YoY) growth with Better Analyst

Connect your data or upload a spreadsheet, then ask in plain English. Better Analyst writes and runs the calculation and shows the steps, so you can check the number.

- “Show year-over-year sales growth by location and month for the last 24 months.”
- “Calculate same-store YoY growth, excluding locations opened in the last 12 months.”
- “Compare organic sessions year over year by channel from GA4.”

Usually calculated from: [Google Sheets](https://betteranalyst.com/data-connectors/google-sheets), [Google Analytics](https://betteranalyst.com/data-connectors/google-analytics), [Google BigQuery](https://betteranalyst.com/data-connectors/bigquery), [Snowflake](https://betteranalyst.com/data-connectors/snowflake), [PostgreSQL](https://betteranalyst.com/data-connectors/postgresql), [MySQL](https://betteranalyst.com/data-connectors/mysql).

[Try Better Analyst free](https://betteranalyst.com/signup)

## Further reading

- [Analyze year-over-year sales in Excel](https://betteranalyst.com/blog/how-to-analyze-year-over-year-sales-in-excel)
- [CAGR formula](https://betteranalyst.com/metrics/cagr)
- [Percentage change calculator](https://betteranalyst.com/percentage-calculator)
- [Calculate percentages in Excel](https://betteranalyst.com/excel/how-to-calculate-percentage-in-excel)
- [Web dashboards](https://betteranalyst.com/product/dashboards)

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the Excel formula for year-over-year growth?

With last year in B2 and this year in C2, use =(C2-B2)/B2 or the equivalent =C2/B2-1, and format as a percentage. Wrap it in IFERROR to handle a zero base.

### How is YoY different from month-over-month growth?

Month-over-month compares consecutive periods and is distorted by seasonality; YoY compares the same period across years, so seasonal patterns cancel out.

### How do I calculate YoY growth over several years?

For a multi-year average rate, use CAGR rather than averaging the yearly percentages: =(Last/First)^(1/years)-1, or =RRI(years, first, last) in Excel.

## Related metrics

- [CAGR Formula: How to Calculate CAGR in Excel (RRI + Manual)](https://betteranalyst.com/metrics/cagr)
- [How to Calculate ARR: Annual Recurring Revenue Formula](https://betteranalyst.com/metrics/annual-recurring-revenue)