Stock market crashes compared
Jan 1871 – Sep 2026, Dividends reinvested, Before inflation
Each crash from its peak · S&P 500
- 1929
- 1973
- 2000
- 2008
- 2020
- 2022
Monthly averages before 1928
Every bear market from a record high · S&P 500
| Crash | Decline | Peak | Bottom | Recovered | To bottom | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Depression | −83.6% | Sep 1929 in the S&P 500 calculator | Jun 1932 | Jan 1945 | 2.7 years | 15.3 years |
| 2008 financial crisis | −55.3% | Oct 2007 in the S&P 500 calculator | Mar 2009 | Apr 2012 | 1.4 years | 4.5 years |
| Dot-com crash | −47.4% | Sep 2000 in the S&P 500 calculator | Oct 2002 | Oct 2006 | 2.1 years | 6.1 years |
| Oil crisis | −45.0% | Jan 1973 in the S&P 500 calculator | Oct 1974 | Jul 1976 | 1.7 years | 3.5 years |
| Panic of 1907 | −33.9% | Sep 1906 in the S&P 500 calculator | Nov 1907 | Dec 1908 | 1.2 years | 2.3 years |
| COVID-19 crash | −33.8% | Feb 2020 in the S&P 500 calculator | Mar 2020 | Aug 2020 | 1 month | 6 months |
| Long Depression | −33.1% | Mar 1876 in the S&P 500 calculator | Jun 1877 | Feb 1879 | 1.3 years | 2.9 years |
| Black Monday | −33.0% | Aug 1987 in the S&P 500 calculator | Oct 1987 | May 1989 | 2 months | 1.7 years |
| Recession of 1969–70 | −32.8% | Nov 1968 in the S&P 500 calculator | May 1970 | Mar 1971 | 1.5 years | 2.3 years |
| World War I | −27.9% | Nov 1916 in the S&P 500 calculator | Dec 1917 | May 1919 | 1.1 years | 2.5 years |
| Kennedy Slide | −26.8% | Dec 1961 in the S&P 500 calculator | Jun 1962 | Apr 1963 | 6 months | 1.4 years |
| Panic of 1903 | −25.7% | Sep 1902 in the S&P 500 calculator | Oct 1903 | Nov 1904 | 1.1 years | 2.2 years |
| 1946 | −25.6% | May 1946 in the S&P 500 calculator | Oct 1946 | Oct 1949 | 4 months | 3.4 years |
| Panic of 1893 | −25.1% | Jan 1893 in the S&P 500 calculator | Aug 1893 | Aug 1897 | 7 months | 4.6 years |
| 2022 | −24.5% | Jan 2022 in the S&P 500 calculator | Oct 2022 | Dec 2023 | 9 months | 1.9 years |
| Depression of 1920–21 | −23.0% | Oct 1919 in the S&P 500 calculator | Aug 1921 | Apr 1922 | 1.8 years | 2.5 years |
| Panic of 1884 | −21.5% | Sep 1882 in the S&P 500 calculator | Jan 1885 | Nov 1885 | 2.3 years | 3.2 years |
| Credit crunch of 1966 | −20.5% | Feb 1966 in the S&P 500 calculator | Oct 1966 | Mar 1967 | 8 months | 1.1 years |
| Early 1980s recession | −20.2% | Nov 1980 in the S&P 500 calculator | Aug 1982 | Oct 1982 | 1.7 years | 1.9 years |
Monthly averages before 1928
About these crashes
A bear market is a fall of 20% or more. Counting from record highs, the S&P 500 has had 19 since 1871, with dividends reinvested. Their median fall is 28%. From the peak, the median time to the bottom is 1.2 years, and back to the peak 2.5 years.
The deepest was the Great Depression, which fell 84% from Sep 1929 to Jun 1932. With dividends, the index was back at its peak in Jan 1945, 15.3 years after it. The 2008 financial crisis fell 55% from Oct 2007 to Mar 2009 and was back at its peak in Apr 2012, 4.5 years after it. The fastest fall was the COVID-19 crash: 34% in 1 month, back at its peak by Aug 2020.
Other lists count more bear markets, as they start a new one after every rise of 20%. Here a fall that came before the index was back at its old high, like 1937–38, is part of the crash before it. Most lists also leave out dividends, which makes falls deeper and longer: on price alone, 1956–57 reaches 21%, and 1929 takes until 1954 to recover. The same history after inflation is on S&P 500 since 1871.