nonpercentage

Nonpercentage is a descriptive term used in data contexts to indicate that a numeric value is not expressed as a percentage. It is not a mathematical constant or a formal standard, but a label that may appear in data schemas, reports, or APIs to differentiate units or scales.

In practice, nonpercentage values can take various forms. They may be fractions or proportions expressed as decimals between 0 and 1 (for example 0.25 meaning a quarter), raw counts, rates not scaled to 100, or monetary and other unitful quantities. The key is that they do not include a percent sign and are not intended to be interpreted directly as percentages without unit context.

When transitioning between nonpercentage and percentage representations, the interpretation depends on the stored semantics. If a field stores a proportion as a decimal, displaying as a percentage requires multiplying by 100 and appending the percent sign. If a field stores a raw count or rate, no such scaling should be applied.

Common pitfalls include assuming a decimal 0.5 equals 50% without confirming the data's units, mixing up decimals and percent signs, and overlooking localization of numeric formats. Clear metadata and documentation help ensure correct interpretation.

See also: percentage, proportion, ratio, rate, data normalization.