GROWTH Function in Excel: Extend an Exponential Trend

GROWTH Function in Excel: Extend an Exponential Trend featured illustration

📎 This article includes 1 downloadable practice file ↓

⏱ 2 min readUpdated 5 October 2026

StatisticsLevel: ExpertAvailable in: Excel 2007+

In this article
  1. Syntax
  2. Examples
  3. Example 1
  4. GROWTH in practice
  5. Where you will use it
  6. Worked example
  7. Mistakes people make
  8. Related functions
  9. Continue learning

GROWTH is TREND for things that grow by a percentage — sign-ups, compounding balances — rather than by a fixed amount.

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Syntax

=GROWTH(known_ys, [known_xs], [new_xs], [const])
Argument What it means
known_ys Must be positive.

Examples

Example 1

=GROWTH(C2:C13, A2:A13, A14:A16)

Next quarter of sign-ups at the current growth rate.

💡 Exponential forecasts explode quickly. Use them for a few periods, not five years.

GROWTH in practice

Where you will use it

  • Exponential sales projection
  • User growth forecasts
  • Compound trend fitting

Worked example

History grows about 10% a month.

MonthFormulaResult
7=ROUND(GROWTH({100,110,121,133,146,161},{1,2,3,4,5,6},A2),0)177
8=ROUND(GROWTH({100,110,121,133,146,161},{1,2,3,4,5,6},A3),0)194
9=ROUND(GROWTH({100,110,121,133,146,161},{1,2,3,4,5,6},A4),0)214

Results calculated in Excel.

Mistakes people make

MistakeWhat to do instead
Linear dataUse TREND
Zeros in y#NUM!; exponential fits need positive values

TREND · LOGEST

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⚡ Interactive Practice Lab & Formula Tester:

Test formulas dynamically in our web formula laboratory or download the companion Excel workbook.

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📎 Practice files for this article

  • 📗
    Practice workbook: Statistics advanced33 tasks on realistic sales data — type your formula, the Check column turns green when it is right. Answers sheet included.
    ⬇ XLSX · 36 KB

Free to use for learning. Files with macros (.bas) are plain text — import them with Alt+F11 → File → Import File, and always test on a copy.

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