In SQL, compound monthly growth rate for the whole period is calculated from the first and last month over the monthly table. On the sample data it returns 5.91.
CMGR = (Last month ÷ First month)^(1 ÷ Number of months between them) − 1
What you need
Compound monthly growth rate (CMGR) is the steady monthly growth rate that would take you from the first month's value to the last month's value. You need these columns, here from the sample file monthly.csv:
- revenue: revenue (net of discounts)
CREATE TABLE monthly (
month TEXT, -- 'YYYY-MM'
revenue INTEGER
);Step by step
- Load monthly.csv into a table called monthly. The table only needs the month column and the columns below.
- This metric summarises the whole period, so it is a single query.
- Run the whole-period query. It adds up each column first and divides once; averaging the monthly results gives a different, usually wrong, answer.
The queries
WITH ends AS (
SELECT
(SELECT revenue FROM monthly ORDER BY month LIMIT 1) AS first_value,
(SELECT revenue FROM monthly ORDER BY month DESC LIMIT 1) AS last_value,
(SELECT COUNT(*) - 1 FROM monthly) AS steps
)
SELECT ROUND(100.0 * (POWER(1.0 * last_value / first_value, 1.0 / steps) - 1), 2) AS cmgr
FROM ends;What you should get
Run against the sample data, the code above returns these values (in percent):
| Month | revenue | cmgr |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-01 | 4,12,000 | — |
| 2026-02 | 4,38,500 | 6.43% |
| 2026-03 | 4,71,200 | 6.94% |
| 2026-04 | 4,55,800 | 3.43% |
| 2026-05 | 5,02,300 | 5.08% |
| 2026-06 | 5,48,900 | 5.91% |
| Whole period | 5.91% |
(₹5,48,900 ÷ ₹4,12,000)^(1 ÷ 5) − 1 = 5.91%
Notes for SQL
- Integer columns divide as integers in PostgreSQL, SQLite and SQL Server, so 3 / 4 gives 0. Multiplying by 1.0 (or 100.0) first makes the division decimal.
- NULLIF(x, 0) turns a zero denominator into NULL, so the query returns NULL for that row instead of failing with a division-by-zero error.
- Tested on SQLite and DuckDB. SUM, NULLIF and ROUND work the same in PostgreSQL, MySQL and BigQuery; SQL Server uses TOP instead of LIMIT where a query has one.
Where compound monthly growth rate misleads
- Only the first and last values matter. A great first month or a weak last month changes the answer a lot.
- Use full months at both ends; a partial month at the end makes growth look worse.
- To compare with a yearly figure, (1 + CMGR)^12 − 1 gives the annualised rate.
The full explanation, with a calculator, is on the Compound monthly growth rate (CMGR) page.
Same metric, other tools
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About the data on this page
The figures come from a small made-up dataset, printed above in full so you can check every number by hand. Download it as monthly.csv. The results are computed from those rows when the page is built, and the Excel formulas, SQL and Python on these pages are run against the same rows before publishing, so the code and the answers agree.
To get these numbers from your own data without writing formulas, try AnalyzeIt: ask in plain words and it shows the working behind every figure.
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