- published: 28 Jan 2016
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The percent sign (%) is the symbol used to indicate a percentage (that the preceding number is divided by one hundred).
Related signs include the permille (per thousand) sign ‰ and the permyriad (per ten thousand) sign ‱ (also known as a basis point), which indicate that a number is divided by one thousand or ten thousand respectively. Higher proportions use parts-per notation.
There is no consensus as to whether or not to include a space between the number and percent sign in English. Many authorities prescribe that there should be a space, whilst others advise against it. The brochure of the International System of Units declares in chapter 5: “a space separates the number and the symbol %”. The ISO 31-0 standard also specifies a space. This is in accordance with the general rule of adding a non-breaking space between a numerical value and its corresponding unit of measurement. However, style guides—such as the Chicago Manual of Style—commonly prescribe to write the number and percent sign without any space in between.