What Effective Field Goal Percentage Measures—and How to Calculate It

Effective field goal percentage (eFG%) measures shooting efficiency from the field while giving made three-pointers credit for their extra point. Unlike ordinary field goal percentage, it treats a made three as 1.5 times as valuable as a made two—the adjustment used in the NBA’s official glossary.

It answers a useful question: how much scoring did a player or team get from its field-goal attempts? It does not measure total offensive efficiency. Role, shot volume and the league’s scoring environment still matter when comparing results; pace affects how many opportunities there are, not the eFG% formula.

How to calculate effective field goal percentage

eFG% = [(FGM + 0.5 × 3PM) ÷ FGA] × 100

Where:

• FGM means all field goals made, including three-pointers.
• 3PM means three-pointers made.
• FGA means all field-goal attempts, including three-point attempts.

This is the formula listed in NBA.com’s league statistics survey, expressed as a percentage.

The common calculation mistake is counting made threes twice at full value. They are already included in FGM, so the formula adds only an extra half-make for each one. For the basic box-score notation, see our guide to FG, FGM, FGA and FG%.

Worked example: fewer makes, more points

Consider these two hypothetical shooting lines. Neither player takes free throws.

Statistic	Player A	Player B
Field goals made/attempted	10/20	9/20
Three-pointers made	0	4
Ordinary FG%	50.0%	45.0%
Effective FG%	50.0%	55.0%
Points from field goals	20	22

Player B’s calculation is:

[(9 + 0.5 × 4) ÷ 20] × 100 = 55.0%

Player A made more baskets, but Player B scored more points on the same number of attempts. FG% favors A; eFG% correctly identifies B’s greater scoring return from those shots.

Another way to read the number: 55% eFG means 1.10 points per field-goal attempt, excluding free throws. Multiply eFG expressed as a decimal by two to get that scoring rate. Similarly, 40% shooting on an all-three-point shot diet produces 60% eFG—the same field-goal scoring return as making 60% of an all-two-point shot diet.

What is a good effective field goal percentage?

Use a same-league, same-season benchmark, rather than treating 50% as universally good.

For a dated NBA reference, the league-wide eFG% was 54.7% in the 2023–24 regular season, compared with ordinary FG% of 47.4%. In 2014–15, league-wide eFG% was 49.6%. Both figures appear in NBA.com’s season-by-season survey.

Against the 2023–24 benchmark, 55% was approximately average, while 60% was clearly above average. Those are comparisons to that season’s overall shooting—not universal player grades, current-season averages or NCAA and high-school standards.

Role also changes the interpretation. A player finishing mostly assisted shots near the basket and a player creating difficult perimeter shots can post different percentages without the difference fully describing their offensive value. Read eFG% alongside attempts, shot locations and creation responsibility.

What eFG% leaves out

Free throws: They appear in neither the numerator nor the denominator. True shooting percentage is the broader shooting measure because it includes free throws as well as twos and threes, as the NBA glossary explains.

Possessions without shots: Turnovers do not directly reduce eFG%. Offensive rebounds can generate additional attempts within one possession. That is why points per field-goal attempt is not the same as points per possession.

Sample size: A strong percentage on 20 attempts is much less informative than the same percentage over a full season. To combine games, calculate eFG% from total FGM, 3PM and FGA; do not take a simple average of game percentages with unequal attempt totals.

Finally, eFG% can exceed 100% because it is a scoring-value adjustment, not a literal percentage of shots made. Going 4-for-4 entirely on threes produces 150% eFG. The player made 100% of the shots, but earned 1.5 times the points those makes would have produced as two-pointers.