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CAGR Calculator

A fund that doubled your money in six years did not grow in a straight line, but one number describes its pace: the compound annual growth rate. Enter what an investment was worth at the start, what it is worth today, and how many full or partial years passed. This tool converts those three facts into the steady per-year rate that would have taken you there.

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How to use this calculator

  1. Enter the value of your investment on day one — purchase price of shares, an NAV-verified mutual fund value, even revenue for a business.
  2. Type what that same investment is worth at the end date, whether today or years ago.
  3. Give the duration in years; halves are fine for holdings like 30 months.
  4. Read the annualised rate, then check the growth multiple underneath to see total money-on-money.
  5. Compare that single percentage across funds, stocks, gold, or property instead of eyeballing raw rupee gains.

The formula behind it

Behind the scenes this page raises the ratio of end value to begin value to the power of one divided by years, then subtracts one: CAGR = (End ÷ Begin)^(1 ÷ Years) − 1. The exponent is what turns lumpy multi-year reality into a flat yearly pace. Note what CAGR deliberately ignores — cash added or withdrawn along the way, dividends spent rather than reinvested, and every bump between the two endpoints. If money moved in or out during the period, the honest metric is XIRR, not CAGR.

Worked example

In April 2021 an investor put ₹2,00,000 into an index fund after a market correction and left it untouched. By April 2026 the statement shows ₹3,22,102. He wants the annualised figure to compare against his brother's five-year fixed deposit story.

Inputs used in this worked example
Start value (Apr 2021)₹2,00,000
End value (Apr 2026)₹3,22,102
Duration5 years

Step by step

  1. Ratio = ₹3,22,102 ÷ ₹2,00,000 = 1.61051
  2. Years = 5, so take the fifth root: 1.61051^(1/5) ≈ 1.10000
  3. Subtract one: 1.10000 − 1 = 0.10000
  4. Convert to percent: 0.10000 × 100

The lumpsum compounded at exactly 10% per year — meaningfully better than typical deposit rates over the same window, with equity-style volatility along the way.

Frequently asked questions

How is CAGR different from absolute return?

Absolute return is just total percentage gain, so doubling in three years and doubling in twelve look identical. CAGR divides the journey across time, exposing that one is roughly a 26% annual pace while the other is about 6%.

What if I invested through monthly SIPs instead of one lumpsum?

Then each instalment has its own timeline and CAGR gives a distorted picture. Multiple cash flows need the XIRR method, which weights every dated contribution separately. Use this tool only when there was a single entry amount.

Can the result be negative?

Yes, and it is still meaningful. An investment worth half its purchase price after four years carries a negative annualised rate near −15.9%, which makes the cost of holding losers concrete rather than vague.

Why does my fund sheet quote a different CAGR?

Fund houses usually compute CAGR between exact dates including dividend reinvestment at their ex-dates. If you entered approximate values or ignored reinvested payouts, expect small gaps. Larger gaps usually mean different start or end dates were used.

Does CAGR predict the next five years?

No. It compresses one historical stretch into one number and says nothing about repeatability. A stock that compounded 20% for a decade can still spend years underwater afterwards, so treat the figure as description, never forecast.

Where CAGR shines and where it misleads

The metric earns its keep the moment two candidate investments have different ages. Your colleague praises a smallcap fund up 84% since launch three winters ago; your own flexicap sits 55% higher after two. Raw percentages make the smallcap look heroic until both figures collapse into annualised terms, where time quietly does the judging. Property buyers get the same benefit: registry price versus current circle rate, spread across holding years, cuts through anecdote instantly.

Misleading starts the moment flows enter the picture. Top-ups, partial exits, and dividend spending all break the single-inflow assumption hiding inside the formula, and the output drifts optimistic. The tell-tale sign is a personal CAGR suspiciously above what the underlying asset delivered — that gap is your own cash movements being misread as growth. Keep this tool for clean one-in, one-out stories and reach for money-weighted measures everywhere else.

Reading the number like an analyst

Seasoned investors translate a CAGR straight into doubling time using the rule of 72: divide 72 by the rate to get approx years needed to double. A 12% pace doubles capital near the six-year mark; 9% takes eight. This mental shortcut also works in reverse when planning goals — needing triple the money in nine years implies close to 13% annually, which immediately tells you whether the plan needs more time, more capital, or more risk.

Finally, pair any point-to-point rate with its calendar-window cousins before drawing conclusions. A five-year figure ending at a peak flatters almost everything; the same fund measured over rolling three-year stretches reveals consistency, not luck. Neither view is complete alone, but together they separate skillful compounding from one lucky bull run.

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Data sources & verification dates

stockcalculator.in Research Desk — Editorial team; verifies every figure against official sources before publishing

Last updated . Figures are re-verified against official sources on every revision — see our methodology.

Disclaimer

Calculations on stockcalculator.in run entirely in your browser using the inputs you provide. Figures shown are estimates for education and planning only. We are not SEBI-registered investment advisers and nothing on this site is investment advice. Verify anything material with your broker, fund house, or a qualified adviser before acting on it.