It Decreased by What Percent?

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Large decreases in value can often lead people to stumble on the way to accurately state these drops. Does this ever cause confusion for you? Test your knowledge here.

In the sentence below, what’s the correct phrase to use in the blank to state the decrease?

"The value of the currency _____________ ."

  1. was three times as much back in May

  2. was three times less than what it was in May

  3. decreased threefold from what it was in May

  4. decreased 300% from what it was in May

The correct answer is the first option "was three times as much." Although this can be stated different ways, the point is that the second, third and fourth options cannot be right, because once something decreases by one time, 100% or onefold -- it's gone! It's really as simple as that. Percent increases and decreases do not scale in the same way, at least using standard mathematics. Increases can be by more than 100%; decreases cannot.

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