Major U.S. Stock Market Drawdowns (S&P 500/Wilshire 5000, 1925-2025)
In brief
DeepValues Research, “Major U.S. Stock Market Drawdowns (S&P 500/Wilshire 5000, 1925-2025)” (Feb 19, 2026): We compile below the most significant S&P 500 (and broadly, Wilshire 5000) declines in the past 100 years, with peak/trough dates, peak-to-trough losses, durations, and time to full recovery.
Source: https://research.deepvalues.ai/market/major-u-s-stock-market-drawdowns/ · Markdown
We compile below the most significant S&P 500 (and broadly, Wilshire 5000) declines in the past 100 years, with peak/trough dates, peak-to-trough losses, durations, and time to full recovery. For context, bear markets (≥20% drops) have been relatively infrequent - about 13 such episodes since 1950 - with average peak-to-trough losses around -32.7%over roughly 338 trading days . Even milder "corrections" (10-20%) have occurred more often (24 since WWII) with average declines around -14.3% . In each case below, the market eventually regained its prior high (often many years later).
| Period (Event) | Peak | Trough | Drop | Duration | Time to Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1929-1932 (Great Depression) | 09/06/1929 | 06/01/1932 | -86% | 783 days (~33 months ) | ≈25 years |
| 1937-1938 Recession | 03/06/1937 | 03/31/1938 | -54.5% | 390 days (≈13 mo) | ≈8.7 years |
| 1946 Post‑WWII Drop | 05/29/1946 | 10/09/1946 | -26.6% | 133 days (≈4.4 mo) | ≈8-10 months |
| 1962 Correction | 12/12/1961 | 06/26/1962 | -28.0% | 196 days (≈6.5 mo) | ≈1.7 years |
| 1968-1970 Slide | 11/29/1968 | 05/26/1970 | -36.1% | 543 days (≈18 mo) | ≈3 years |
| 1973-1974 Oil Crisis | 01/11/1973 | 10/03/1974 | -48.2% | 630 days (≈21 mo) | ≈10 years |
| 1980-1982 Recession | 11/28/1980 | 08/12/1982 | -27.1% | 622 days (≈20.5 mo) | ≈1.3 years |
| 1987 Crash | 08/25/1987 | 12/04/1987 | -33.5% | 101 days (≈3.3 mo) | ~1.9 years |
| 1990 (Gulf‑War) | 07/16/1990 | 10/11/1990 | -19.9% | 87 days (≈2.9 mo) | ~0.7 years |
| 2000-2002 Dot‑Com | 03/24/2000 | 10/09/2002 | -49.1% | 929 days (≈31 mo) | ≈7 years |
| 2007-2009 Financial Crisis | 10/09/2007 | 03/09/2009 | -56.8% | 517 days (≈17 mo) | ≈4 years |
| 2020 COVID‑19 Crash | 02/19/2020 | 03/23/2020 | -33.9% | 33 days (≈1.1 mo) | ~0.5 years |
| 2022 Inflation Shocks | 01/03/2022 | 10/12/2022 | -25.4% | 282 days (≈9.3 mo) | ~0.8 years |
Sources: S&P500 drawdowns from Yardeni Research historical tables and MFS (chart dates) . Recovery times are approximate, based on when the index regained its prior peak (e.g. ~25 y after 1929 , ~0.5 y after 2020 ). Charted recessions and events provide context for each crash (e.g. 1973 oil embargo , 2020 pandemic lockdowns).
Key insights:
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Frequency & scale. Deep bear markets (≥20%) are rare - only ~13 since 1950 - though smaller 10-20% corrections happen more often (about 24 since WWII ). By one analysis, the average bear market cut the S&P by about -35.8% over ≈1.5 years , and recovery to new highs took on average ≈2.2 years . In practice, recoveries are highly variable: crashes triggered by mild shocks tend to resolve quickly (e.g. the 2020 COVID dip bounced back in ~5 months ), whereas systemic crises can lag for years (e.g. 1929-32 and 1973-74 took many years to fully recover ).
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Worst declines. The Great Depression (1929-32) was by far the deepest drop (~-86%), spanning about 33 months and requiring ~25 years to return to prior highs . Other severe bear markets include 1973-74 (-48% during the OPEC oil embargo ), the 2000-2002 tech bust (-49%), and 2007-2009 (-57%) due to the housing/financial crisis. Each of these periods coincided with major economic recessions or shocks.
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Short-lived crashes. Some steep declines were very brief. For example, the 1987 "Black Monday" crash (-33.5%) spanned only ~3 months (Oct-Dec 1987) yet took about 20 months to recover . The 2020 COVID crash (-34%) occurred in about a month and recovered in only ~6 months - the fastest rebound on record. These cases illustrate that recovery trajectories vary: 2008 took ~4 years to break even , while 2020 took ~0.5 year , reflecting differences in crisis management and economic conditions.
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Broader context. Charting the S&P over time with recessions (grey bands) highlights that economic shocks coincide with market drops. For instance, the 1973-74 plunge followed an oil-price shock , the 2008 crash followed a financial panic, and the 2020 dip followed a global pandemic declaration. Conversely, post-crash recoveries often usher in extended bull markets: e.g. the 2009-2020 bull lasted over a decade. Overall, history shows that "bear markets" can be painful and lengthy, but have invariably been followed by eventual rebounds (often very strong in hindsight) .
Figure: Long-term S&P 500 index (blue line) with U.S. recessions shaded gray【46†】. Notable bear markets (1929, 1974, 2009, 2020, etc.) align with major economic shocks. (Chart source: CurrentMarketValuation.com.)
Historical notes: Each crash had different causes - e.g. the 1929-32 collapse was tied to the stock market bubble and banking failures; the 1937-38 slide and 1946 drop followed business cycle fluctuations; 1973-74 coincided with the OPEC oil embargo ; 2000-02 with overvalued tech stocks; 2008 with subprime credit; 2020 with the COVID lockdown. Importantly, despite periodic bear markets, the broad market has risen dramatically over the century. Studies show that avoiding panic selling during drawdowns has historically benefited long-term investors, as rebounds typically outlast and outweigh the initial losses .
Sources: Historical S&P 500 data and research from Yardeni/MFS/standard references ; key statistics from Hartford Funds/Clearnomics ; recession/event annotations from multiple sources including Investopedia . (Chart embedded from CurrentMarketValuation【46†】.)