Really dumb maths question but it's got me puzzled

[MuseumofInnocence]

I've become puzzled by something really simple that I don't think I've thought about before.

I have a number that has increased from -2000 to -1000. This is an increase of 1000. However, I calculate the percentage increase as 1000/-2000 * 100 = -50%.

If -2000 increases to -1000, it is a percentage increase of -50% (which to my ears sounds like a decrease of 50%).

Of course I could take the negative numbers and call them something positive (e.g. net assets of -1000 is actually a debt of 1000 and therefore only deal with positive numbers).

Am I doing something really really silly? Where am I going wrong?

Because it was originally negative you had a 50% increase, you just wouldn't include the sign when saying it to yourself.
It is also dependent on what you're looking at, for example if you used to spend 2000 on expenses and now spend 1000, you spend 50% LESS on expenses which is -50%.

I just guess I was confused about having never really thought of how to calculate a percentage when you have negative numbers