The Excel LOGINV Function

LOGINV & LOGNORM.INV Functions

In Excel 2010, the Loginv function has been replaced by the Lognorm.Inv function, which has improved accuracy.

Although it has been replaced, the Loginv function is still available in Excel 2010 (stored in the list of compatibility functions), to allow compatibility with earlier versions of Excel.

However, the Loginv function may not be available in future versions of Excel, so it is advised that you use the Lognorm.Inv function if possible.

Related Function:
LOGNORMDIST
NORMINV

Function Description

The Excel LOGINV function calculates the inverse of the Cumulative Log-Normal Distribution Function of x, for a supplied probability.

The syntax of the function is:

LOGINV( probability, mean, standard_dev )

Where the function arguments are:

probability - The value at which you want to evaluate the inverse function.
mean - The arithmetic mean of ln(x).
standard_dev - The standard deviation of ln(x).


Loginv Function Example

Plot of Inverse Log-Normal Cumulative Distribution Function with Mean=2 and Standard Deviation=0.2
Inverse of Log-Normal Cumulative Distribution of x with mean ln(x) = 2 & standard deviation ln(x) = 0.2

The above chart on the right shows the Inverse Log-Normal Cumulative Distribution Function of x. The mean of ln(x) = 2 and the standard deviation of ln(x) = 0.2.

If you want to calculate the value of x, for a probability of 0.3, this can be done using the Excel Loginv function, as follows:

=LOGINV( 0.3, 2, 0.2 )

This gives the result 6.653346076.


For further information and examples of the Excel Loginv function, see the Microsoft Office website.


Loginv Function Errors

If you get an error from your Excel Loginv function this is likely to be one of the following:

Common Errors
#NUM! -

Occurs if either:

  • the supplied probability argument is ≤ 0 or ≥ 1;
  • the supplied standard_dev argument is ≤ 0.
#VALUE! - Occurs if any of the supplied arguments is non-numeric.