S&P 500: How Many Years Has the S&P 500 Been Down?

PlanEasy's Quick Bites

Seven times the S&P 500 stock market index (including dividends) experienced consecutive annual declines over the past 95 years since 1928
Consecutive annual decreases have often occurred within three-year bunches
In 2022, the benchmark U.S. stock market index dropped -18%, including dividends

Consecutive annual decreases have often occurred within three-year bunches

Here is a summary of the seven times the S&P 500 saw consecutive annual declines in the index, including dividends:

1930: -25%

1931: -44% 1^st time

1932: -9% 2^nd time

1939: -1%

1940: -11% 3^rd time

1941: -13% 4^th time

1973: -14%

1974: -26% 5^th time

2000: -9%

2001: -12% 6^th time

2002: -22% 7^th time

Source: Professor of Finance at the Stern School of Business at New York University, Aswath Damodaran; data series “Historical Returns on Stocks, Bonds and Bills: 1928-2022” updated January 2023: https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/New_Home_Page/datafile/histretSP.html