Percentages in words
A percentage written out, and the fraction it is the same as.
With or without the % sign. Decimals are fine.
As a fraction:
As a decimal:
Per cent or percent
British English writes it as two words, per cent, and American English as one. South African and Indian usage follows the British form, Australian usage is split, and the symbol % is the same everywhere. The switch above changes which one this tool prints.
Either way, a number in words takes the word as well: fifteen per cent. In running prose the number itself is usually spelled out under ten and left in digits above it.
Per cent and percentage points
When a percentage changes, the gap between the old figure and the new one is measured in percentage points, not per cent. An interest rate that goes from 10% to 12% has risen by two percentage points, and that is a rise of twenty per cent on where it started, because two is a fifth of ten.
The two phrases mean different changes, so say which you mean: from 10%, “up two per cent” is 10.2% and “up two percentage points” is 12%.
Common percentages
| Percentage | In words | As a fraction |
|---|---|---|
| 5% | five per cent | 1/20 |
| 10% | ten per cent | 1/10 |
| 12.5% | twelve point five per cent | 1/8 |
| 15% | fifteen per cent | 3/20 |
| 25% | twenty-five per cent | 1/4 |
| 33.33% | thirty-three point three three per cent | 3333/10000 |
| 50% | fifty per cent | 1/2 |
| 75% | seventy-five per cent | 3/4 |
| 100% | one hundred per cent | 1/1 |