What happens to equilibrium price and quantity when supply and demand change, a cheat sheet

This post was updated in August 2018 with new information and examples.

This post gives some cheat sheet tables that show what will happen to equilibrium price and equilibrium quantity given changes in either demand or supply.  Click on these links to learn about what can shift supply, or what can shift demand in related posts.

The tables are structured with the title in the top left, and along the first column and row are the different scenarios for shifts in supply and demand.  Demand/Supply “increase” means that demand/supply increases or shifts to the right.  Demand/Supply “decrease” means that demand/supply decreases or shifts to the left.  Demand/Supply “same” means that no shift occurs, and we keep the original demand/supply curve.

Equilibrium Quantity	Demand Increase	Demand Decrease	Demand Same
Supply Increase	Higher	Unknown	Higher
Supply Decrease	Unknown	Lower	Lower
Supply Same	Higher	Lower	Same

Equilibrium Price	Demand Increase	Demand Decrease	Demand Same
Supply Increase	Unknown	Lower	Lower
Supply Decrease	Higher	Unknown	Higher
Supply Same	Higher	Lower	Same

EP (equilibrium price) & EQ (equilibrium quantity)	Demand Increase	Demand Decrease	Demand Same
Supply Increase	EP Unknown EQ Higher	EP Lower EQ Unknown	EP Lower EQ Higher
Supply Decrease	EP Higher EQ Unknown	EP Unknown EQ Lower	EP Higher EQ Lower
Supply Same	EP Higher EQ Higher	EP Lower EQ Lower	EP Same EQ Same

Below we have provided an intuitive description of each of the changes to help build your understanding of why each of the new equilibrium price and equilibrium quantities will be where they are:

Typically an increase in demand tends to make both equilibrium quantity and equilibrium price go up.  This is because more people are willing to buy the product (hence an increase in demand).  More people buying a product means a higher quantity will be sold (an increase in equilibrium quantity) and because more people are buying it, the price can go up (higher equilibrium price). 

A decrease in demand tends to make both equilibrium quantity and equilibrium quantity go down.  With less people interested in buying the good (a decrease in demand) we see equilibrium quantity drop.  In order to sell these goods, the price has to drop as well.

Typically an increase in supply will cause equilibrium price to fall, and equilibrium quantity to rise.  This is because more goods are being supplied to the market so we would expect quantity to rise, and the prices to fall. 

With a decrease in supply, fewer goods are being supplied so we would expect equilibrium quantity to fall, and equilibrium price to rise (as fewer goods are in the market).

When we get ambiguous conclusions for price, such as an increase in demand (prices increase), and an increase supply (prices decrease), then we don’t really know what will happen to equilibrium price.  More information is needed to find the solution.  However, generally the answer in these types of questions will be “it depends”, “unknown”, or “more information needed”.  For more information about these types of problems check out this older post about shifts with ambiguous results.

The cheat sheet in words:

If demand increases and supply increases then equilibrium quantity goes up, and equilibrium price could go up, down, or stay the same.

If demand increases and supply decreases then equilibrium quantity could go up, down, or stay the same, and equilibrium price will go up.

If demand increases and supply stays the same then equilibrium quantity goes up, and equilibrium price goes up.

If demand decreases and supply increases then equilibrium quantity could go up, down, or stay the same, and equilibrium price will go down.

If demand decreases and supply decreases then equilibrium quantity goes down, and equilibrium price could go up, down, or stay the same.

If demand decreases and supply stays the same then equilibrium quantity goes down, and equilibrium price goes down.

If demand stays the same and supply increases then equilibrium quantity goes up, and equilibrium price goes down.

If demand stays the same and supply decreases then equilibrium quantity goes down, and equilibrium price goes up.

If demand stays the same and supply stays the same then equilibrium quantity stays the same, and equilibrium price stays the same.

Check out the following videos to see examples of all of the possible shift combinations and the resulting changes to equilibrium price and equilibrium quantity.