Quantitative change

A quantitative change is a variation, in the amount or measure of something, which in principle has no reason to cause a change in the quality or properties of what is being observed, that is to say, a qualitative change. When the quantitative change does not generate a qualitative change, it is said that it is a merely quantitative change. For example, it can be said that an increase in sales in a company of 2% from one year to another is a merely quantitative change, unless it supposes a break from a decreasing trend in the last years. In this way, the quantitative changes are opposed to the qualitative changes, which do have as a consequence a change in the quality or property of the observed. Although they do not generate a qualitative change at a given moment, the quantitative changes can present a long-term trend that eventually can lead to a qualitative change.