Percent or percentage points?

Why a rise from 5% to 6% is one percentage point but a 20% increase.

A percentage point is the simple difference between two percentages. If unemployment goes from 5% to 6%, it rose by one percentage point.

A percent change compares the new value with the old one. The same move from 5% to 6% is a 20% increase, because one is a fifth of five.

Both are correct, but they answer different questions, and mixing them up can make a small change sound large. This site describes changes in rates and shares in percentage points, and changes in counts and amounts (people, euros, tonnes) in percent.

Measures on this site

• Unemployment rate, ages 15 to 74 (Eurostat)
• Inflation rate (HICP, annual average) (Eurostat)
• Households with internet access (Eurostat)