The Excel ARABIC Function

Function Description

The Excel Arabic function converts a Roman numeral into an Arabic numeral.

The syntax of the function is:

ARABIC( text )

Where the text argument is a text representation of a Roman numeral (no more than 255 characters long).

Note that:

If supplied directly to the function, the text argument must be encased in quotation marks;
If an empty text string is supplied, the Arabic function returns the value 0;
The Arabic function was only introduced in Excel 2013 and so is not available in earlier versions of Excel.

The spreadsheet below shows five examples of the Excel Arabic Function.

Formulas:

Results:

See the Microsoft Office website for further details and examples of the Excel Arabic function.

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

Common Errors

#VALUE!

Occurs if the supplied text argument is not a valid Roman numeral.

#NAME?

Occurs if either:

The text argument is supplied directly to the function, but is not encased in quotation marks.

You are using an older version of Excel (pre-2013), that does not support the Arabic function.