Excel > Function References > Statistical Functions

KURT function

Returns the kurtosis of a data set. Kurtosis characterizes the relative peakedness or flatness of a distribution compared with the normal distribution. Positive kurtosis indicates a relatively peaked distribution. Negative kurtosis indicates a relatively flat distribution.

Syntax

KURT(number1,number2,...)

Argument	Description	Remarks
number1,number2,...	1 to 255 arguments for which you want to calculate the mean.	You can also use a single array or a reference to an array instead of arguments that are separated by commas. If there are fewer than four data points, or if the standard deviation of the sample equals zero, KURT returns the #DIV/0! error value. The arguments must be either numbers or names, arrays, or references that contain numbers. If an array or reference argument contains text, logical values, or empty cells, those values are ignored. However, cells with the value zero are included.

Argument

Description

Remarks

number1,number2,...

1 to 255 arguments for which you want to calculate the mean.

You can also use a single array or a reference to an array instead of arguments that are separated by commas.
If there are fewer than four data points, or if the standard deviation of the sample equals zero, KURT returns the #DIV/0! error value.
The arguments must be either numbers or names, arrays, or references that contain numbers.
If an array or reference argument contains text, logical values, or empty cells, those values are ignored. However, cells with the value zero are included.

General remarks

Kurtosis is defined as:

KURT Equation

where:

s is the sample standard deviation.

Example

To make the following example easier to understand, you can copy the data to a blank sheet and then enter the function underneath the data. Do not select the row or column headings (1, 2, 3... A, B, C...) when you copy the sample data to a blank sheet.


1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

A	B
Data
3
4
5
2
3
4
5
6
4
7
Formula	Description (Result)
=KURT(A2:A11)	Kurtosis of the data set in the table (-0.1518)

See also
SKEW function
STDEV.S function
STDEV.P function
VAR.S function
VAR.P function
List of all functions (by category)

Share your feedback about this topic

Rate this content: