Find the Compound Annual Growth Rate between a starting and ending value — the single steady annual rate that explains your investment's growth.
| Year | Value at CAGR |
|---|
Enter Your Values
Fill in the initial value, final value, and number of years to calculate CAGR.
A CAGR calculator finds the Compound Annual Growth Rate — the single steady annual rate that, if compounded every year, would turn your initial value into your final value over the stated period. It's the standard way investors, business owners, and analysts compare the performance of stocks, mutual funds, real estate, revenue, or any other value that changes over time, on an apples-to-apples annualized basis, regardless of how choppy the actual year-to-year path was.
You enter an initial value, a final value, and the number of years between them. NeftCal applies CAGR = (Final Value ÷ Initial Value)^(1 ÷ Years) − 1 to find the constant annual growth rate, then reports the absolute growth in dollars and percent, and a growth multiple (like "2.5x") so you can see both the annualized rate and the total scale of change at a glance. A chart and table then project what the value would look like at the end of each year if it had grown at that exact constant rate the whole time.
Investors comparing the annualized performance of two stocks or funds held for different lengths of time, business owners tracking revenue or user growth year over year, students learning the CAGR formula for a finance course, and anyone who wants to convert a total percentage gain into a single annualized figure all benefit from this tool.
Year-to-year returns are often lumpy — a big gain one year, a loss the next — which makes a simple average misleading: a 50% gain followed by a 50% loss averages to 0% but the actual value falls 25%. CAGR smooths all of that into one number that reflects what actually happened, making it far more reliable for comparing two investments held over different or overlapping periods, judging whether a business's growth is accelerating or slowing, or setting a realistic long-term growth assumption for planning.
CAGR converts a total change over time into one constant annual rate
CAGR assumes growth happened evenly every year, compounding on itself. It's a mathematical smoothing of the actual, often bumpy, path a value took between two points in time.
CAGR only looks at a single starting and ending value — it doesn't account for money added or withdrawn along the way. For that, use an IRR or XIRR calculation instead.
From two values to an annualized growth rate in under a minute
Input the starting value of your investment, business metric, or any figure you're tracking — this is the base the annualized rate is measured from.
Input the ending value at the end of your holding period, using the same units and currency as the initial value.
Input the total holding period between the two values. Decimals like 2.5 are supported for periods that don't land on a clean anniversary.
The calculator applies CAGR = (Final ÷ Initial)^(1 ÷ Years) − 1 to find the single constant annual rate that explains the full change.
See the CAGR percentage, absolute growth in dollars and percent, the growth multiple, and a year-by-year projected value chart and table.
A realistic CAGR calculation, step by step
Suppose an investment was worth $10,000 five years ago and is worth $25,000 today.
Explanation: A 20.11% CAGR means that if this investment had grown at exactly the same steady rate every single year for 5 years, it would have turned $10,000 into $25,000 — even though the actual year-to-year path was almost certainly uneven, with some stronger years and some weaker (or even negative) ones. This is why CAGR is described as a smoothed, annualized figure rather than a return that was literally earned in any one year.
A declining-value example: if instead the same $10,000 had fallen to $7,000 over 5 years, CAGR = (7,000/10,000)^(1/5) − 1 ≈ −6.88% — a negative annualized rate reflecting the overall decline, even if a couple of individual years within that period happened to be positive.
What your CAGR figure actually tells you
There's no universal "good" CAGR — it depends entirely on the asset class, the risk taken, and the time period measured. The ranges below are general, illustrative reference points, not a rating scale.
| CAGR (Approximate) | General Read | Typical Context |
|---|---|---|
| Negative | Value declined overall | Investment or metric lost value over the period |
| 0% – 10% | Modest to moderate growth | Conservative portfolios, bonds, or slow-growth businesses |
| Above 10% | Strong annualized growth | Equity-heavy portfolios or fast-growing businesses — often with higher volatility or risk |
Comparing across time periods: because CAGR is already annualized, you can fairly compare a 3-year investment's CAGR against a 10-year investment's CAGR — something you can't do with raw total-return percentages. But remember that a short, high-CAGR period can look deceptively impressive; always check the underlying time horizon.
CAGR hides volatility: two investments can post an identical CAGR while taking very different paths — one steady and gradual, the other a rollercoaster of large gains and losses. CAGR alone doesn't tell you which path you experienced, so pair it with a look at year-by-year performance or a volatility measure before judging risk.
Not a forecast: a historical CAGR describes what already happened (or, for a hypothetical scenario, what the numbers imply) — it is not a prediction that the same rate will continue. Treat any CAGR-based projection as an illustrative assumption, not a guarantee.
This tool provides general financial estimates for educational purposes only and does not constitute personalized investment advice. Past performance isn't a guarantee of future returns — consult a licensed financial advisor before making an investment decision based on any growth-rate calculation.
Where this CAGR calculator earns its keep
Find the annualized return of a stock or mutual fund holding between purchase and today.
Fairly compare a 3-year investment's performance against a 10-year investment's performance.
Report year-over-year revenue growth as one clean annualized figure for a pitch deck or report.
Track how fast an app's user base or a subscription service's subscriber count is growing annually.
Estimate the annualized appreciation rate of a property between purchase price and current value.
Verify the CAGR formula by hand against an instant calculation for coursework or exam prep.
Convert a known total return percentage into an annualized rate without dollar amounts.
Use a historical CAGR as a starting-point growth assumption for a separate compounding projection.
Independently check a fund fact sheet's advertised "annualized return" figure.
What this CAGR calculator does well, and where it can't replace professional advice
Three different ways to describe growth over time — and when each one applies
| Feature | CAGR | Simple Average Return | IRR / XIRR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash flows handled | Single start & end value only | Single start & end value only | Multiple dated cash flows |
| Accounts for compounding | Yes | No | Yes |
| Sensitive to volatility | Smooths it out | Can overstate performance | Smooths it out |
| Best for | Lumpsum investments, revenue/user growth | Quick rough estimates only | SIPs, staggered contributions/withdrawals |
Common questions about CAGR
Official guidance to complement this calculator — not a substitute for licensed financial advice
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