CAGR Calculator
CAGR (compound annual growth rate) is the one steady yearly rate that turns a beginning value into an ending value: (End ÷ Begin)1/years − 1. Enter two values and a period or two dates. You can also solve for the ending value or the years needed to reach a target, and adjust for inflation.
Values Example values Any currency, price or index level works, as long as both values use the same unit.
Inputs Example values The growth rate is an assumption you choose, not a forecast.
Inputs Example values
Year-by-year growth
Values are shown to 2 decimals and rates to 2 decimals of a percent. Everything is calculated in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent.
How the CAGR calculator works
CAGR answers one question: what constant yearly rate, compounded once a year, links the first value to the last one? It ignores everything that happened in between.
The date mode counts calendar days and divides by 365.25, the average length of a year including leap years. So 1 Jan 2020 to 1 Jan 2026 is 2,192 days, or 6.0014 years. Excel’s XIRR uses a different convention: Microsoft’s documentation says “All succeeding payments are discounted based on a 365-day year” (Microsoft, XIRR function). The gap is small: for 2,192 days at a 10% CAGR, the 365-day count gives a rate about 0.007 percentage points lower; at 30%, about 0.02 points lower.
Edge cases the calculator handles
- Beginning value 0 or below: CAGR is undefined (you cannot divide by zero or take a fractional root of a negative ratio). The calculator shows a message instead of a number.
- Ending value 0: CAGR is −100%. The value was wiped out.
- Ending value below the beginning: CAGR is negative, shown in red.
- Period of 0 years or less, or an end date on or before the start date: invalid.
- Periods shorter than a year: allowed, but the result is an annualised rate. A 5% gain in 3 months annualises to about 21.6%, which overstates what is likely to repeat.
Solving for ending value or years to a target
The same formula can be turned around to answer the other two questions.
- 10,000 growing at 7% a year for 10 years: 10,000 × 1.0710 = 19,671.51.
- Years for 10,000 to reach 20,000 at 7%: ln(2) ÷ ln(1.07) = 10.24 years. The rule of 72 gives 72 ÷ 7 = 10.3 years, a close shortcut.
- A target can be unreachable. At 0% growth the value never changes. A positive rate never reaches a lower target, and a negative rate never reaches a higher one. The calculator says so instead of returning a meaningless number.
Worked examples with official data
Consumer prices are a public series anyone can check. The examples below use the US Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index for all urban consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average, all items, 1982–84 = 100, not seasonally adjusted. Here CAGR measures the average yearly inflation rate.
| Period | Begin | End | Years | Multiple | Total change | CAGR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPI-U annual average 2010 → 2020 | 218.056 | 258.811 | 10 | 1.1869× | +18.69% | 1.73% |
| CPI-U December 2016 → December 2025 | 241.432 | 324.054 | 9 | 1.3422× | +34.22% | 3.32% |
- 2010 → 2020: 258.811 ÷ 218.056 = 1.18690. Take the 10th root: 1.186900.1 = 1.01728. Subtract 1: 1.73% a year.
- Dec 2016 → Dec 2025: 324.054 ÷ 241.432 = 1.34222. The 9th root is 1.03324: 3.32% a year.
Sources: annual averages from the BLS table “Consumer Price Index, All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. City Average, All Items, 1982-84=100” (BLS PDF); December values from the BLS Consumer Price Index Historical Tables for U.S. City Average. Both retrieved 25 Oct 2026.
The two rows also show end-point sensitivity: the same index gives 1.73% or 3.32% a year depending on the dates chosen. Always state the start and end dates next to any CAGR, and compare investments over identical periods.
A hypothetical investment
The calculator’s default example is hypothetical: 10,000 grows to 18,000 in 6 years. 1.81/6 − 1 = 10.29% a year. Total return is +80%, a 1.8× multiple. The table shows the smooth path CAGR implies: 11,029.24 after year 1, 12,164.40 after year 2, and so on. Real prices rarely move that smoothly.
Real vs nominal CAGR
A nominal CAGR includes inflation. A real CAGR shows growth in purchasing power. Divide the growth factors; do not just subtract the rates:
Example: a hypothetical portfolio with a 7% nominal CAGR from December 2016 to December 2025, against CPI-U inflation of 3.32% a year over the same months, has a real CAGR of 1.07 ÷ 1.03324 − 1 = 3.56%. Simple subtraction (7% − 3.32% = 3.68%) slightly overstates it. Enter an inflation rate in the calculator to see the real CAGR and, in “Find ending value”, the ending value in today’s money. For price-level questions on their own, see the inflation calculator.
What CAGR leaves out
Deposits and withdrawals
CAGR assumes one amount at the start and one at the end, with nothing added or removed. If you added 5,000 halfway through, the ending value is higher, but not because of growth. CAGR would overstate the return. Contributions are out of scope for this calculator on purpose.
For cash flows, use a money-weighted return (internal rate of return). In a spreadsheet, list every deposit as a negative number and the current value as a positive number with their dates, then use XIRR. Microsoft describes XIRR as returning “the internal rate of return for a schedule of cash flows that is not necessarily periodic” (Microsoft, XIRR function). A time-weighted return removes the effect of cash flows instead; a CFA Institute digest notes that the IRR method “weights the investment return against the cash flow inputs and outputs”, while the time-weighted method compounds sub-period returns geometrically (CFA Institute, Digest summary, 2017). For regular monthly buys, the DCA calculator handles the contributions for you.
Volatility
CAGR hides the ride. Two investments with the same CAGR can have very different drawdowns along the way. It also differs from the simple average return:
| Year | Return | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Start | 100.00 | |
| Year 1 | +50% | 150.00 |
| Year 2 | −50% | 75.00 |
| Simple average return | 0.00% | |
| CAGR | −13.40% |
The average says “flat”; the account lost 25%. CAGR, (75 ÷ 100)1/2 − 1 = −13.40%, matches what happened.
Fees, taxes and currency
CAGR uses whatever values you enter. If the ending value is before fees or tax, so is the CAGR. The investment fee calculator shows how fees reduce growth, and the capital gains tax calculator estimates tax on a sale. If the two values are in different currencies, convert them first.
Common mistakes
- Dividing the total return by the number of years. +80% over 6 years is 10.29% a year compounded, not 13.33%.
- Using CAGR for an account with regular deposits. Use XIRR instead.
- Comparing CAGRs measured over different dates.
- Counting the years wrong. From the end of 2016 to the end of 2025 is 9 years, not 10.
- Treating a past CAGR as a promise. It describes history, not the future.
- Annualising very short periods. A one-month gain turned into a yearly rate rarely holds.
FAQ
What is CAGR and how do you calculate it?
CAGR (compound annual growth rate) is the single yearly rate that would turn a beginning value into an ending value if growth compounded at the same pace every year. CAGR = (Ending value ÷ Beginning value)^(1 ÷ years) − 1. For example, 10,000 that grows to 18,000 in 6 years has a CAGR of 1.8^(1/6) − 1 = 10.29% per year.
How do I calculate CAGR in Excel?
Type =(End/Begin)^(1/Years)-1, for example =(B2/B1)^(1/B3)-1, and format the cell as a percentage. Excel also has the RRI function, which Microsoft describes as returning “an equivalent interest rate for the growth of an investment” (Microsoft, RRI function): =RRI(years, beginning value, ending value) gives the same result. With dates instead of years, use =(B2/B1)^(365.25/(EndDate-StartDate))-1.
What is the difference between CAGR and average annual return?
The average annual return is the simple mean of each year’s return; CAGR is the rate that actually links the start and end values. If 100 rises 50% to 150 and then falls 50% to 75, the average return is 0%, but the investment lost money: the CAGR is (75 ÷ 100)^(1/2) − 1 = −13.40% per year. When returns vary, the simple average is always at least as high as CAGR.
Can CAGR be negative?
Yes. If the ending value is below the beginning value, CAGR is negative. An ending value of zero gives −100%. CAGR is not defined when the beginning value is zero or negative, or when the period is zero years.
Does CAGR account for deposits and withdrawals?
No. CAGR only uses the first and last values, so money added or taken out along the way distorts it. For a series of cash flows use a money-weighted return such as Excel’s XIRR, which Microsoft describes as returning the internal rate of return for a schedule of cash flows that is not necessarily periodic.
What is a good CAGR?
There is no single number. Compare a CAGR with inflation and with a suitable benchmark over the same dates. For reference, the BLS consumer price index (CPI-U) rose at a CAGR of about 1.73% a year from its 2010 to its 2020 annual average, and about 3.32% a year from December 2016 to December 2025. A past CAGR does not predict future growth.
Related tools
- Compound interest calculator
Growth with regular additions. - Future value calculator
Value of money at a future date. - DCA calculator
Scheduled buys over time. - Inflation calculator
What prices did between two dates. - Investment fee calculator
How fees cut long-term growth. - Stock portfolio tracker
Track holdings and returns in a spreadsheet.
Educational tool only, not financial or investment advice. CAGR describes past growth between two values and does not predict future returns. Growth rates you enter are assumptions. CPI-U figures are from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Sources: BLS CPI-U annual averages, BLS CPI-U historical tables, Microsoft XIRR, Microsoft RRI, CFA Institute. Retrieved 25 Oct 2026.