CAGR calculator
The compound annual growth rate between two values.
- Instant
- Free
- Private (processed locally)
- No sign-up
The true speed of your growth
From 10,000 to 18,000 in 5 years: good or bad? The total (+80%) says nothing until you bring it back to a comparable annual rate. That is the CAGR’s job: 12.47%/year here — a figure you can set against a savings account, an index or a competitor.
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Enter the two values
Portfolio, revenue, subscribers, traffic… anything that grows can be measured.
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Set the duration
The years slider — CAGR recomputes instantly.
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Read the trajectory
The chart shows the “smoothed” year-by-year path this rate implies.
Orders of magnitude to place a CAGR
| CAGR | Equivalent | Doubles in |
|---|---|---|
| 2% | Target inflation / savings account | 35 years |
| 5% | Conservative portfolio | 14 years |
| 7-8% | World stocks (long-run, historical) | 9-10 years |
| 15% | Sustained company growth | 5 years |
| 40%+ | Startup hypergrowth | 2 years |
CAGR describes the past and smooths volatility: very different paths can share the same rate. For investment performance, remember “past returns are no guarantee…” — you know the rest.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly is CAGR?
The Compound Annual Growth Rate is the constant annual rate which, compounding every year, leads from the starting to the ending value: CAGR = (end ÷ start)^(1/years) − 1. It is the equivalent “cruising speed” of a possibly chaotic trajectory.
Why not just divide total growth by the years?
Because growth compounds: +80% over 5 years is not 16%/year but 12.47%/year. The arithmetic average systematically overstates the real rate — CAGR is the geometric mean, the only correct one here.
What is CAGR used for in practice?
To compare things with different durations: an investment doing +50% in 3 years (14.5%/yr) beats one at +80% in 6 years (10.3%/yr). It also gauges the growth of revenue, an audience or a market.
What are its limits?
CAGR smooths everything: it ignores volatility and the path taken. Two investments with the same CAGR can carry very different risks. And it describes the past — nothing guarantees it continues.