CAGR Calculator
Instant results as you type.
₹
₹
years
CAGR (yearly)
20.11%
Absolute return150%
Total gain₹1,50,000.00
What this meansAn absolute gain of 150% over 5 years works out to 20.11% a year. Compare investments on the annual figure, never the absolute one.
For education and planning only. Your bank or lender’s actual figures can differ — fees, rounding, day-count conventions and local rules vary. Always confirm the final numbers with your provider before deciding.
CAGR turns any gain into a yearly rate, which is the only fair way to compare investments held for different lengths of time. A holding that doubled sounds impressive until you learn it took twelve years — that is under 6 per cent a year. This calculator gives both figures side by side and tells you which one to trust.
How to use it
- Enter what the investment was worth at the start and what it is worth now.
- Enter how many years you held it.
- Compare the annual CAGR against the headline absolute return.
Examples
- 1 lakh growing to 2.5 lakh in 5 years is a CAGR of 20.11% — an absolute return of 150%.
- A fall from 1 lakh to 50,000 over 3 years is a CAGR of −20.63%.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between CAGR and absolute return?
- Absolute return is the total change with no reference to time: 1 lakh to 2.5 lakh is 150 per cent whether it took two years or twenty. CAGR converts that into the steady yearly rate that would have produced the same result. Advertisements quote the absolute figure because it is larger; use CAGR when comparing anything.
- Is a good CAGR the same for every asset?
- No. Around 7 to 8 per cent is a solid CAGR for a debt investment, 11 to 13 per cent is a reasonable long-run expectation for equity, and property varies enormously by location. Judge a CAGR against the risk taken and the alternatives available, not against a universal number.
- Does CAGR show how risky an investment was?
- Not at all, and this is its main weakness. CAGR describes only the start and end points, so an investment that rose smoothly and one that halved before recovering can show an identical CAGR. Two investments with the same CAGR can be very different experiences to hold.
- Can CAGR be negative?
- Yes. If the final value is below the starting value, the CAGR is the yearly rate of decline. It is worth calculating honestly rather than looking away — a negative CAGR over several years tells you something the absolute loss alone does not.