1. The world population was 7.2 billion in 2010. In 2020, it was 7.8 billion.
a. Calculate the increase in population.
b. Calculate the percentage increase from 2010 to 2020.
2. In 2019, there were 1.5 billion international tourist arrivals worldwide. In 2021, this number
fell to 420 million.
a. Express both values in the same units.
b. Calculate the percentage decrease.
c. By what percentage must international tourist arrivals increase from the 2021 level to
return to the 2019 level? (2 d.p)
3. A small company increased the price of a product from €40 to €52.
a. Calculate the percentage increase in the price.
b. After the increase, the company gives a 10% discount on the new price. Calculate the
selling price after the discount.
c. If the original price (€40) is considered 100%, what percentage of the original price is the
final selling price after the discount?
Increasing and decreasing by a given percentage
Increase by a Given Percentage
If a quantity increases by x%:
100+𝑥
𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 = 𝑂𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑉𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 ×
100
Decrease by a Given Percentage
If a quantity decreases by x%:
100−𝑥
𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 = 𝑂𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑉𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 ×
100
1. A satellite weighs 1,200 kg before launch. During preparation, engineers add protective
equipment which increases the mass by 8%. How much does the satellite weigh after the
increase?
2. A public library has 4,500 books. Due to digital storage, the number of physical books is
reduced by 15%. How many physical books are there now?
3. A city used 15,000 megawatt-hours of electricity in January. In February, energy-saving
campaigns reduced electricity usage by 6%. However, in March, new air-conditioning
installations increased electricity usage by 9% from February.
a. Find the electricity usage in February.
b. Find the electricity usage in March.
c. Overall, did electricity usage increase or decrease from January to March? Calculate the
percentage change.
4. A publishing company printed 1.2 million copies of a novel in 2021. In 2022, production
changed and 1.05 million copies were printed.
a. Calculate the percentage change in production.
b. The company wants production in 2023 to be 10% higher than 2022 production. How many
copies should be printed?
5. A population of bacteria is increasing at a rate of 15% per hour. What is the percentage increase
after 4 hours? Give your answer correct to 2 decimal places.
6. Due to surplus production, oil prices decrease by 12% in January and then by a further 12%
in February. A newsreader reports that the price of oil has decreased by 24%. Is that correct?
Justify your answer.
7. The number of users of a new streaming platform is expected to triple in 6 years if it grows at
a constant percentage rate each year.
Find the annual percentage growth rate, correct to 1 decimal place.
8. Which results in more points: doubling the original number or a 40% increase followed by a
50% increase? Why?
9. You are buying 1 GB of data which normally costs €10.
Two offers are available:
Offer 1: 50% discount on the price of data.
Offer 2: 50% extra data free.
Which offer gives cheaper data?