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The market, by the numbers

Statistics

Ninety-eight years of S&P 500 history and fourteen years of tech IPOs, drawn so you can see the ups, the falls and the climbs back.

Returns per year

How often does the S&P 500 end a year up, and by how much?

RBL | US | 01Updated
Years
Column width
Light up years above
Years that returned more than 0%59 of 7578.7% of years, 1951 to 2025
Up years78.7%59 years ended higher
Down years21.3%16 years ended lower
Average year+12.8%Most often: 10% to 20%, 18 years

S&P 500 total return by year, 1951 to 2025

Up year Down year 2025, the latest full year
1.3%
−40% to −30%
2.7%
−30% to −20%
5.3%
−20% to −10%
12.0%
−10% to 0%
17.3%
0% to 10%
24.0%
10% to 20%
21.3%
20% to 30%
13.3%
30% to 40%
1.3%
40% to 50%
1.3%
50% to 60%

Tap a year for its return and its worst fall along the way. 2026 so far: +11.77% ▲ to 30 Oct 2026, not counted until the year ends.

Technical

From 1928 to 2025, the S&P 500 ended 72 of 98 years higher. The average year returned +11.9%, yet only 7 years landed within 2 points of it.

Plain English

The average year almost never happens. Most years are well up or clearly down, and up years have outnumbered down years about three to one.

Source: Annual returns with dividends: Aswath Damodaran, NYU Stern. Intra-year declines: S&P 500 daily closes, Yahoo Finance. Data to 30 Oct 2026. Refreshed each weekday after the US and SGX closes.

Returns include reinvested dividends and are in US dollars. Past returns don't predict future returns.

Past returns don't predict future returns. Figures are for US markets; a Singapore investor also carries the US dollar's moves against the Singapore dollar. For education only. Not financial advice.