• 2-minute read
• 2nd April 2018

3 Tips on Writing Percentages

We might not offer mathematical advice, but we’re 100% on top of our grammar and spelling. Thus, if you need some guidance on how to write percentages, you’re in the right place!

Check out the tips below, and let us know if you need any more help perfecting your written work.

1. Percent or Per Cent?

The question about percentages we’re asked most often is whether to write ‘percent’ or ‘per cent’. However, there is no definitive answer here: both are accepted spellings of the same term.

In practice, ‘percent’ is more common worldwide these days, but ‘per cent’ is still standard in British English.

If you’re using a style guide (e.g. from a publisher or your university), you may want to check whether they have a preferred spelling. However, as long as you pick one version of this word and use it consistently, either should be fine.

2. Words or Numerals?

As with any numbers, you need to decide whether to write percentages as words or with numerals. A good rule of thumb in most situations is to use numerals for numbers over ten. In addition, you should always use the % sign when writing percentages with numerals. For example:

Only five percent of job applications are error free.

Up to 95% of job applications contain at least one error.

Check your style guide if you have one, though, as there are exceptions to the rule above! For measurements in scientific writing, for example, it’s standard to use numerals even for small numbers.

3. When to Use ‘Percentage’

Finally, we should look at the difference between ‘percent’ and ‘percentage’. The key is that ‘percent’ and the % sign are used with specific numbers, while ‘percentage’ is used with general amounts:

Almost 72% of recruiters ignore CVs that contain spelling errors.

A large percentage of recruiters ignore CVs that contain spelling errors.

These sentences are similar, but we use ‘percentage’ when we don’t have an exact number.