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MS Excel: FORECAST Function (WS)

In Microsoft Excel, the FORECAST function returns a prediction of a future value based on existing values provided.

Syntax

The syntax for the FORECAST function is:

FORECAST( x-value, known_y_values, known_x_values )

x-value is the x-value used to predict the y-value.

known_y_values is the known y-values used to predict the y-value.

known_x_values is the known x-values used to predict the y-value.

Note

Applies To

Type of Function

Worksheet Function Example

Let's take a look at an example to see how you would use the FORECAST function in a worksheet:

Microsoft Excel

Based on the Excel spreadsheet above, the FORECAST function would return the following:

=FORECAST(5, B2:B6, A2:A6) would return 20.03269866
=FORECAST(10, B2:B6, A2:A6) would return 11.8937852
=FORECAST(8, {1,2,3}, {4,5,6}) would return 5
=FORECAST(7, {5.8, -1}, {2, -5}) would return 10.65714286
=FORECAST(50, {-1,-2,-3,-4}, {10,20,30,40}) would return -5