Skip to main content
cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Try your skills in the Power BI Dataviz World Championship! Round one ends June 26. Join now

Reply
AlexeyRusinov
Helper II
Helper II

Forecasting extrapolation algorythm

Hello everyone,

 

Power BI Desktop offers an amazing forecasting feature, although I haven't found any descriptions of the algorithm that it uses. Which type of extrapolation it uses inside, where can I read about that? Also, are there any plans to make different types of forecasting available?

 

Any help would be much appreciated.  

4 REPLIES 4
Anonymous
Not applicable

Hi @AlexeyRusinov,

I haven’t found specific official article that describe what algorithm the forecasting feature uses in Power BI Desktop. However, there is detailed explanation about which algorithm Power View uses for forecasting in the following blog. 

https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/describing-the-forecasting-models-in-power-view/

As stated in the above blog, forecasting in Power View is based on an established suite of methods for time series prediction called exponential smoothing. Two versions of exponential smoothing are provided, one for seasonal data (ETS AAA), and one for non-seasonal data (ETS AAN). Power View uses the appropriate model automatically when you start a forecast for line chart, based on an analysis of the historical data.

This blog also applies to Power BI Desktop as Power BI Desktop started as these add-ins(Power Query, Power Pivot, Power View) for Excel.


Thanks,
Lydia Zhang

It uses a modified version of Holt-Winters seasonal model.

 

For more detail, this article below provides a good level of detail about this methodology:

https://www.otexts.org/fpp/7/5

 

Cheers,

Gin

Hi @jxjia,

 

I have sam concern with @AlexeyRusinov, We could not consult end-users use that feature when we dont know how it is implemented 😞 So could PBI team public some information to let us aware algorithms that forecasting feature using or be implemented?

BhaveshPatel
Super User
Super User

Please refer to this documentation at

 

https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/introducing-new-forecasting-capabilities-in-power-view-for-...

 

 

Thanks & Regards,
Bhavesh

Love the Self Service BI.
Please use the 'Mark as answer' link to mark a post that answers your question. If you find a reply helpful, please remember to give Kudos.

Helpful resources

Announcements
Fabric Data Days is here Carousel

Data Days 2026

Don't miss out on Data Days, June 15 through August 7. Learn Fabric, Power BI, SQL, AI and more.

May Power BI Update Carousel

Power BI Monthly Update - May 2026

Check out the May 2026 Power BI update to learn about new features.

Power BI DataViz World Championships carousel

Power BI DataViz World Championships - June 2026

A new Power BI DataViz World Championship is coming this June! Don't miss out on submitting your entry.