From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpercentageper‧cen‧tage /pəˈsentɪdʒ $ pər-/ ●●○ W3 AWL noun 1 [countable, uncountable]HMAMOUNT an amount expressed as if it is part of a total which is 100percentage of The percentage of school leavers that go to university is about five per cent. Tax is paid as a percentage of total income.high/low/small percentage A high percentage of married women have part-time jobs. Interest rates fell by six percentage points (=6%). The numbers are small in percentage terms (=when calculated as a percentage).percentage change/increase etc Crime figures showed significant percentage increases.GRAMMAR: Singular or plural verb?If the noun that follows a percentage of is plural, use a plural verb after it: Only a small percentage of people are interested in politics.2 [countable usually singular]BB a share of the profits She gets a percentage for every record sold.3 → there is no percentage in doing somethingCOLLOCATIONSadjectiveshigh/large A high percentage of our students pass the exam.small/low Only a small percentage of people suffer from the allergy.significantWe get a significant percentage of our oil from Nigeria and Angola.percentage + NOUNa percentage point (=one percent)The party increased its share of the vote by almost 4 percentage points.a percentage increase/changePoorer pensioners experienced the greatest percentage increase in their pensions.phrasesin percentage termsThe quantity of carbon dioxide was, in percentage terms, extremely small.verbsexpress something as a percentageThe number is expressed as a percentage of the total population of the country.
Examples from the Corpus
percentage• In January, polls showed Dole was leading his nearest rival by 23 percentage points.• The section length occupied by the respective injury grades was expressed as a percentage of the total section length.• He gets a percentage for every book that is sold.• The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus five percentage points.• They develop mainly in fresh tap water, especially if it contains a high percentage of calcium salts.• Most of the coffee we produce is for export -- a high percentage goes to the US.• A high percentage of businesses fail because of the collapse of a major customer or supplier.• A high percentage of the coffee they produce goes to the US.• A relatively small number of questions on percentages was used in the tests developed by the project.• The disease is serious, and in a small percentage of cases it can be fatal.• Only a small percentage of African American employees were considered for promotion.• The writer only receives a small percentage of the profits from each book sold.• The percentage of patients with normal mucosa was significantly less in the alcoholic group compared with the normal groups.• The percentage of pensioners living below the poverty line has increased by 15% in the last four years.• The percentage of women students at the university has increased steadily.• It also shows that the Thatcher government found it difficult to implement its objective of quickly reducing this percentage.• This percentage is based on price changes during the last 30 days.• What percentage of our students passed the exam?percentage of• The percentage of students over 35 has increased.From Longman Business Dictionarypercentageper‧cen‧tage /pəˈsentɪdʒpər-/ noun [countable, uncountable]1an amount considered as part of a total which is 100percentage ofWhat percentage of sales are generated abroad?Rental companies bought a high percentage of the vehicles sold.Spending on research and development as a percentage of profits is low.2percentage increase/decrease/rise etc the increase, decrease etc considered as part of a total which is 100The percentage increase in the construction sector was much higher than in manufacturing. 