Question

A town's population went from 24,528 to 23,221. What is the percent decrease in the town's population? (Round to the nearest whole percent)

Answer 1

5% decrease

Explanation:

A percentage change can be calculated using the formula ...

percentage change = ((new value)/(old value) -1) × 100%

Using the given population values, we can find the change to be ...

percent change = (23221/24528 -1) × 100% = (0.947 -1) × 100%

= -5.3% . . . . . a negative change indicates a decrease

The percentage decrease in the town's population is 5%.