Decimal to percent converter

Type a decimal such as 0.375 and the percent appears as you type. Below it are the rounded percent and the same number as a fraction.

For a repeating decimal, put the repeating digits in brackets, as in 0.1(6), or end with three dots, as in 0.333…

A percent is a number out of 100, so multiply the decimal by 100. That moves the decimal point two places to the right, so 0.375 becomes 37.5% and 0.05 becomes 5%.

Add zeros when you run out of digits. 0.4 is 0.40, which is 40%, and 2 is 2.00, which is 200%.

A decimal under 0.01 gives a percent under 1. 0.005 is 0.5%, half of one percent. That's easy to misread as 5%, so check the zeros after the point.

The word comes from the Latin per centum, "by the hundred". The % sign grew out of the Italian per cento: writers shortened "cento" to two small circles with a line between them, and the sign we use came from that.

Working in hundredths is older than the word. In ancient Rome, Augustus taxed goods sold at auction at 1/100, which is a 1% tax.