Let the initial price be x At the end of year 1 it is x + 0.3*x (since it went UP by 30% or 0.3 times) = 1.3*x At the end of year 2, it is 40% of the value at year1 i.e. the new price is 1.3*x + (0.4*1.3*x) = 1.3*x*1.4 = 1.82*x Since the price has gone up from x to 1.82*x, the combined percent increase = 0.82 or 82% Hope you got it :)