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Compound annual growth rate
View on Wikipedia| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Initial value | $100 | 1990 |
| Final value | $800 | 2005 |
| CAGR of 14.9% over 15 years | ||
| Part of a series on |
| Macroeconomics |
|---|
Compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is a business, economics and investing term representing the mean annualized growth rate for compounding values over a given time period.[1][2] CAGR smoothes the effect of volatility of periodic values that can render arithmetic means less meaningful. It is particularly useful to compare growth rates of various data values, such as revenue growth of companies, or of economic values, over time.[3]
Equation
[edit]For annual values, CAGR is defined as:
where is the initial value, is the end value, and is the number of years.
CAGR can also be used to calculate mean annualized growth rates on quarterly or monthly values. The numerator of the exponent would be the value of 4 in the case of quarterly, and 12 in the case of monthly, with the denominator being the number of corresponding periods involved.[4]
In practice, CAGR calculations are often performed in Microsoft Excel. A convenient built-in function is , where represents the number of periods, denotes the present value (initial investment), and represents the future value (final value of the investment). The IRR function returns the equivalent constant interest rate per period, effectively matching the CAGR when applied over a specified period.[5]
Applications
[edit]These are some of the common CAGR applications:
- Calculating and communicating the mean returns of investment funds[6]
- Demonstrating and comparing the performance of investment advisors[6]
- Comparing the historical returns of stocks with bonds or with a savings account[6]
- Forecasting future values based on the CAGR of a data series (you find future values by multiplying the last datum of the series by (1 + CAGR) as many times as years required). As with every forecasting method, this method has a calculation error associated.
- Analyzing and communicating the behavior, over a series of years, of different business measures such as sales, market share, costs, customer satisfaction, and performance.
- Calculating mean annualized growth rates of economic data, such as gross domestic product, over annual, quarterly or monthly time intervals.[7]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Mark J. P. Anson; bdgdgdhd J. Fabozzi; Frank J. Jones (3 December 2010). The Handbook of Traditional and Alternative Investment Vehicles: Investment Characteristics and Strategies. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 489–. ISBN 978-1-118-00869-0.
- ^ root. "Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) Definition | Investopedia". Investopedia. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
- ^ Emily Chan (27 November 2012). Harvard Business School Confidential: Secrets of Success. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 185–. ISBN 978-1-118-58344-9.
- ^ "How is average annual growth calculated?". Bureau of Economic Analysis. January 11, 2008.
- ^ "How to Calculate CAGR in Excel". Accelerate Excel. May 24, 2025.
- ^ a b c "Compound Annual Growth Rate CAGR: Summary and Forum". www.12manage.com. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
- ^ "How is average annual growth calculated?". Bureau of Economic Analysis. January 11, 2008.
Compound annual growth rate
View on Grokipediawhere represents the number of years in the period.[1] This geometric mean approach accounts for the effects of compounding, differing from simple arithmetic averages that can overstate growth by ignoring reinvested returns.[3] For example, if an investment starts at $10,000 and ends at $19,487 after five years, the CAGR would be approximately 14.27%, indicating the equivalent steady annual growth rate. In practice, CAGR finds applications in portfolio analysis, where it helps assess long-term returns on stocks, mutual funds, or real estate; in corporate finance, for projecting revenue or earnings growth; and in economic reporting, such as tracking GDP expansion.[2] It is particularly valuable for comparing disparate investments, as it eliminates the impact of timing differences in returns and focuses on overall geometric progression.[4] Despite its utility, CAGR has notable limitations: it assumes constant growth without volatility, potentially misleading users about risk exposure during market downturns; it ignores intermediate cash flows like dividends or additional investments; and it may overstate performance if the period includes irregular events like mergers or economic shocks.[1] Therefore, it should be used alongside other metrics, such as standard deviation for volatility or internal rate of return (IRR) for cash flow considerations, to provide a fuller picture of investment viability.[3]
Fundamentals
Definition
The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) represents the mean annual growth rate of an investment or metric over a specified period longer than one year, assuming that profits or gains are reinvested at the end of each period. It calculates the geometric mean of the annual growth factors, providing a smoothed measure of growth that accounts for the effects of compounding over time.[1] This metric treats the growth as if it occurred at a steady rate each year, enabling consistent comparison across different time frames or investments.[5] In contrast to a simple arithmetic average of annual growth rates, which can overstate performance in cases of volatility, CAGR normalizes irregular returns into a single, constant annual rate. For instance, it reveals the true compounded impact of ups and downs, avoiding the distortion that might suggest zero net growth from equal gains and losses in successive periods.[5] Essential prerequisites for understanding CAGR include the concept of compound growth, where returns build upon prior returns, and key terms such as the beginning value (the initial amount invested), the ending value (the final amount after the period), and the number of periods (n, typically measured in years).[1]Importance
The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) offers significant practical value by providing a standardized, single metric that captures the smoothed annual growth of an investment, business metric, or economic indicator over irregular periods, enabling straightforward comparisons across volatile or uneven trajectories. Unlike simple arithmetic averages, which can be skewed by short-term fluctuations, CAGR inherently accounts for compounding effects, delivering a geometrically averaged rate that reflects the true annualized performance without distortion from interim volatility. This makes it particularly useful for long-term trend analysis and benchmarking, such as evaluating investment portfolios or economic indicators spanning multiple years, where it simplifies decision-making by presenting growth in an intuitive, annual percentage form.[1][5] CAGR's standardization has been widely adopted by financial regulators and professional bodies to ensure consistent and transparent reporting. For instance, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) mandates the disclosure of average annual total returns—calculated as CAGR—for mutual funds in shareholder reports, covering 1-, 5-, and 10-year periods, reinforced in modern tailored shareholder reports.[6] Similarly, the CFA Institute's Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS) require firms to present time-weighted annualized returns, effectively utilizing CAGR methodologies, for composite performance to facilitate fair comparisons across investment managers. This regulatory and standards-based adoption promotes uniformity in mutual fund disclosures and economic data reporting, reducing ambiguity and enhancing investor confidence.[1][5] Compared to alternatives like simple year-over-year growth rates or arithmetic means, CAGR excels by embedding the power of compounding, which avoids understating long-term returns in scenarios with variable performance, and allows for apples-to-apples evaluations across disparate time frames, asset classes, or economic contexts. Its interpretability as an equivalent steady annual rate further distinguishes it, making complex growth patterns accessible without needing detailed volatility breakdowns. In practice, CAGR's simplicity drives its broad real-world use, including in corporate annual reports for revenue or earnings trends, and population projections by the United Nations, where it provides a clear, comparable measure of sustained expansion.[1][5]Calculation
Formula
The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is calculated using the formula where Ending Value represents the value of the investment or metric at the conclusion of the period, Beginning Value is the initial value at the start, and denotes the number of years or compounding periods over which the growth occurs.[1][5] To compute the CAGR step by step:- Compute the ratio: Ending Value ÷ Beginning Value.
- Take the nth root of that ratio, where n is the number of years.
- Subtract 1 from the result.
- Multiply by 100 to express as a percentage.[1][7]
Derivation
The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is derived from the fundamental principle of compound growth, where an initial value grows exponentially over multiple periods at a constant annual rate. Consider an initial value that grows to a final value over periods through annual compounding at rate . The relationship is expressed as , which captures the reinvestment of growth each period, leading to exponential accumulation.[9] To solve for the constant annual rate , rearrange the equation by dividing both sides by : . Taking the th root of both sides yields , so . This form annualizes the total growth factor by extracting the geometric mean of the annual multipliers, assuming constant growth; specifically, it represents the rate that, when compounded annually, equates the initial and final values over periods.[10][11] This derivation connects directly to exponential growth models, where the exponent in reflects compounding's multiplicative nature, and the power of effectively "annualizes" the cumulative effect by distributing it evenly across periods. In contrast, simple interest follows a linear derivation from , solving to , without reinvestment and thus understating multi-period growth.[9] For edge cases, when , the formula simplifies to , reducing to the simple periodic return.[10] For continuous compounding, an approximation arises by taking the natural logarithm: , though this is not the standard discrete CAGR used in practice.[12]Examples
To illustrate the practical computation of the compound annual growth rate (CAGR), consider a basic example of an investment starting at $1,000 and growing to $1,500 over 3 years. The calculation uses the endpoints only: first, divide the ending value by the beginning value to get $1,500 / $1,000 = 1.5. Next, raise this ratio to the power of 1 divided by the number of years, or , which approximates 1.1447 (using a calculator or spreadsheet for the cube root). Subtract 1 from this result and multiply by 100 to express as a percentage: (1.1447 - 1) × 100 = 14.47%. This indicates an average annual growth rate of 14.47% over the period.[13] For cases involving negative growth, suppose an asset's value declines from $2,000 to $1,200 over 5 years. Apply the same steps: $1,200 / $2,000 = 0.6, then . Subtracting 1 yields -0.0976, or -9.76% when expressed as a percentage. This negative CAGR reflects an average annual contraction, useful for evaluating underperforming investments, though it smooths out yearly variations. In multi-period scenarios with intermediate data points, CAGR still relies solely on the starting and ending values, disregarding fluctuations in between. For instance, with annual values of $100 (year 0), $120 (year 1), $144 (year 2), and $172.8 (year 3), compute using the endpoints: $172.8 / $100 = 1.728, then = 1.2 exactly. Subtract 1 to get 0.2, or 20%. The intermediate values, which show consistent 20% yearly growth here, are ignored in the formula, highlighting CAGR's focus on overall geometric mean return.[14] CAGR can also be used to project future values of an investment, assuming the historical growth rate continues. The formula for the projected value is where is the number of periods into the future. For example, for an initial investment of $100,000 with a projected CAGR of 40% over 5 years, the calculation is $100,000 \times (1.4)^5 \approx $100,000 \times 5.37824 = $537,824. To demonstrate the effects of long-term compounding, consider an initial investment of $1,000 growing at an 8.6% CAGR over 50 years, which yields approximately $62,000. This approach is commonly applied in finance to estimate total portfolio returns by annualizing the compounded growth, providing a smoothed measure of performance over time.[1][5] CAGR can also be used to determine the required annual return to grow an investment to a target amount over a specific period. The formula for the required return is where is the number of years. For example, growing $1.3 million to $4.1 million in 20 years requires approximately 5.9% average annual return.[1] Similarly, for instance, doubling a value, such as revenue, over approximately 4 years implies a CAGR of approximately 19%, calculated as (2)^{1/4} - 1 ≈ 0.1892 or 18.92%.[1] To illustrate the application of compound growth calculations in revenue projections, consider a business starting with a present value of ₹27,548 crore and assuming an annual growth rate of 9% over 10 years. The step-by-step process involves multiplying the previous year's value by (1 + rate) for each year, which can be computed directly using the formula: Future Value = Present Value × (1 + rate)^n. Here, (1.09)^10 ≈ 2.3676, so ₹27,548 crore × 2.3676 ≈ ₹65,240 crore, representing approximately 2.4× growth. This method allows businesses to forecast future revenue assuming constant compounded growth.[7] For computational efficiency, spreadsheets like Microsoft Excel simplify CAGR calculations with the formula=(ending_value / beginning_value)^(1 / number_of_years) - 1, entered directly into a cell (e.g., =(1500/1000)^(1/3)-1 for the basic example, yielding 0.1447 or 14.47%). This handles exponentiation automatically via the POWER function if preferred: =POWER(ending_value / beginning_value, 1 / number_of_years) - 1. For non-integer periods, such as 2.5 years, substitute the fractional value directly (e.g., ^(1/2.5)), ensuring the time input accurately reflects completed periods from start to end. Always verify inputs for precision, as small errors in exponents can affect results.[13]
