Get Age in Excel

Introduction to Calculating Age in Excel

Calculating age in Excel can be a straightforward process, especially when dealing with dates. Excel provides various functions to manipulate dates, making it easy to find the age of a person or the duration between two dates. In this blog post, we will explore how to calculate age in Excel using different methods and formulas.

Understanding Date Formats in Excel

Before diving into calculating age, it’s essential to understand how Excel handles dates. Excel stores dates as serial numbers, starting from January 1, 1900, which is considered as day 1. This serial number representation allows Excel to perform arithmetic operations on dates. For example, if you want to add 7 days to a date, you can simply add 7 to the serial number representing that date.

Calculating Age Using the DATEDIF Function

The DATEDIF function is a hidden gem in Excel that can calculate the difference between two dates in years, months, or days. The syntax of the DATEDIF function is:

DATEDIF(start_date, end_date, unit)

Where: - start_date is the initial date - end_date is the final date - unit is the unit of time (e.g., “Y” for years, “M” for months, “D” for days)

For example, to calculate the age of a person born on January 1, 1990, as of today (assuming today’s date is August 16, 2024), you can use the following formula:

=DATEDIF("1990-01-01", TODAY(), "Y")

This formula will return the number of years between the birth date and the current date.

Calculating Age Using the YEAR, MONTH, and DAY Functions

Another way to calculate age is by using the YEAR, MONTH, and DAY functions. These functions extract the year, month, and day from a date, respectively. You can then use these extracted values to calculate the age.

For example, to calculate the age of a person born on January 1, 1990, as of today (assuming today’s date is August 16, 2024), you can use the following formula:

=YEAR(TODAY()) - YEAR("1990-01-01")

However, this formula only considers the year and does not account for the month and day. To get a more accurate result, you can use the following formula:

=IF(MONTH(TODAY()) >= MONTH("1990-01-01") AND DAY(TODAY()) >= DAY("1990-01-01"), YEAR(TODAY()) - YEAR("1990-01-01"), YEAR(TODAY()) - YEAR("1990-01-01") - 1)

This formula checks if the current month and day are greater than or equal to the birth month and day. If they are, it returns the difference in years; otherwise, it subtracts 1 from the result.

Calculating Age Using VBA Macro

If you prefer using VBA macros, you can create a custom function to calculate age. Here’s an example code:

Function CalculateAge(birthDate As Date) As Integer
    CalculateAge = Year(Now) - Year(birthDate)
    If Month(Now) < Month(birthDate) Or (Month(Now) = Month(birthDate) And Day(Now) < Day(birthDate)) Then
        CalculateAge = CalculateAge - 1
    End If
End Function

You can then use this function in your Excel sheet by calling it with the birth date as an argument, like this:

=CalculateAge("1990-01-01")

Table of Age Calculation Examples

Here’s a table summarizing some examples of age calculations:

Birth Date	Current Date	Age
1990-01-01	2024-08-16	34
2000-06-15	2024-08-16	24
1980-12-25	2024-08-16	43

📝 Note: When working with dates in Excel, make sure to use the correct date format to avoid errors.

To summarize the key points, calculating age in Excel can be done using various methods, including the DATEDIF function, the YEAR, MONTH, and DAY functions, or VBA macros. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages, and the choice of method depends on your specific needs and preferences. By understanding how to calculate age in Excel, you can create more informative and dynamic spreadsheets that reflect the passage of time.