CAGR Calculator
Compound annual growth rate — the smooth rate that connects two values.
How it works
CAGR = (end / begin)^(1/years) - 1. It answers one question: what steady annual rate would have taken you from the first number to the last?
Because it is smooth by construction it hides everything that happened in between. A company that grew 200% then fell 50% shows the same CAGR as one that grew steadily. It is a summary, not a description.
Common questions
Why not just average the yearly growth rates?
Because growth multiplies rather than adds. Up 50% then down 50% averages to zero but leaves you down 25%. CAGR handles that correctly; the arithmetic mean does not.