S&P 500 · Historical Drawdowns — Historical Drawdowns: The Morphology of Market Declines
Historical Drawdown Register — Comprehensive catalog of all major market drawdowns since 1928, detailing peak-to-trough depths, durations, and recovery paths.
From the collapse of 1929 to the pandemic liquidity shock of 2020, charting every significant drawdown in S&P 500 history by peak-to-trough depth, duration, and subsequent recovery period.
What this page answers
The S&P 500 has weathered 73 qualifying corrections, including 12 full-blown bear markets (-20% or worse). The deepest historical contraction reached -86.2% (1929: Sep 16 - Jun 1, 1932). Across all episodes, the median drawdown is -8.2%, requiring a median of 34 trading days to find a definitive bottom.
From the collapse of 1929 to the pandemic liquidity shock of 2020, charting every significant drawdown in S&P 500 history by peak-to-trough depth, duration, and subsequent recovery period. The data is refreshed by the History of Market pipeline and published as a stable JSON endpoint for research, citation, and AI-agent use.
The plate
Latest Snapshot
- Updated
- 2026-09-08
- Max decline
- -86.2%
- Median decline
- -8.2%
- Drawdowns
- 73
S&P 500 — historical drawdown ledger (73 episodes)
| Period | Decline | Days to trough | Recovery (days) | Catalyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026: Jan 27 - Mar 30 | -9.1% | 62 | 78 | AI & geopolitical fears |
| 2025: Feb 19 - Apr 8 | -18.9% | 48 | 128 | Tariffs & trade war |
| 2025: Oct 28 - Nov 20 | -5.1% | 23 | 44 | AI-bubble jitters |
| 2024: Jul 16 - Aug 5 | -8.5% | 20 | 65 | Nikkei shock |
| 2024: Mar 28 - Apr 19 | -5.5% | 22 | 48 | Delayed-cut fears |
| 2022: Jan 3 - Oct 12 | -25.4% | 282 | 746 | Inflation & rate hikes |
| 2021: Sep 2 - Oct 4 | -5.2% | 32 | 49 | COVID-Omicron |
| 2020: Sep 2 - Sep 23 | -9.6% | 21 | 72 | COVID pandemic |
| 2020: Feb 19 - Mar 23 | -33.9% | 33 | 181 | COVID pandemic |
| 2019: Jul 26 - Aug 14 | -6.1% | 19 | 94 | Trade war |
| 2019: Apr 30 - Jun 3 | -6.8% | 34 | 51 | Trade war |
| 2018: Sep 20 - Dec 24 | -19.8% | 95 | 215 | Rising rates |
| 2018: Jan 26 - Feb 8 | -10.2% | 13 | 210 | Rate fears |
| 2015: May 21 - Feb 11, 2016 | -14.2% | 266 | 417 | Greek default |
| 2014: Sep 18 - Oct 15 | -7.4% | 27 | 43 | QE taper |
| 2014: Jan 15 - Feb 3 | -5.8% | 19 | 43 | QE taper |
| 2013: May 21 - Jun 24 | -5.8% | 34 | 51 | Taper tantrum |
| 2007: Jul 19 - Aug 15 | -9.4% | 27 | 78 | Subprime first wave |
| 2007: Oct 9 - Mar 9, 2009 | -56.8% | 517 | 1,997 | Global financial crisis |
| 2000: Mar 24 - Oct 9, 2002 | -49.1% | 929 | 2,623 | Dotcom bust |
| 1999: Jul 16 - Oct 15 | -12.1% | 91 | 123 | |
| 1999: May 13 - May 27 | -6.3% | 14 | 48 | |
| 1999: Apr 12 - Apr 19 | -5.1% | 7 | 10 | |
| 1999: Dec 31 - Feb 25, 2000 | -9.2% | 56 | 81 | |
| 1998: Jul 17 - Aug 31 | -19.3% | 45 | 129 | |
| 1997: Aug 6 - Aug 29 | -6.3% | 23 | 57 | |
| 1997: Feb 18 - Apr 11 | -9.6% | 52 | 76 | |
| 1997: Dec 5 - Jan 9, 1998 | -5.7% | 35 | 55 | |
| 1997: Oct 7 - Oct 27 | -10.8% | 20 | 59 | |
| 1996: May 24 - Jul 24 | -7.6% | 61 | 112 | |
| 1994: Feb 2 - Apr 4 | -8.9% | 61 | 377 | |
| 1992: Sep 14 - Oct 9 | -5.3% | 25 | 67 | |
| 1992: Jan 15 - Apr 8 | -6.2% | 84 | 196 | |
| 1991: Aug 28 - Oct 9 | -5.0% | 42 | 76 | |
| 1991: Apr 17 - May 15 | -5.6% | 28 | 111 | |
| 1991: Nov 13 - Nov 29 | -5.6% | 16 | 41 | |
| 1990: Jul 16 - Oct 11 | -19.9% | 87 | 212 | |
| 1989: Oct 9 - Jan 30, 1990 | -10.2% | 113 | 232 | |
| 1987: Aug 25 - Dec 4 | -33.5% | 101 | 701 | |
| 1987: Apr 6 - May 20 | -7.9% | 44 | 70 | |
| 1986: Sep 4 - Sep 29 | -9.4% | 25 | 89 | |
| 1986: Jul 2 - Jul 15 | -7.5% | 13 | 55 | |
| 1985: Jul 17 - Sep 25 | -7.7% | 70 | 117 | |
| 1983: Jun 22 - Aug 8 | -6.9% | 47 | 110 | |
| 1983: Oct 10 - Jul 24, 1984 | -14.4% | 288 | 469 | |
| 1982: Nov 9 - Nov 23 | -7.0% | 14 | 58 | |
| 1980: Sep 22 - Sep 29 | -5.3% | 7 | 14 | |
| 1980: Nov 28 - Aug 12, 1982 | -27.1% | 622 | 705 | |
| 1980: Oct 15 - Oct 30 | -5.5% | 15 | 28 | |
| 1973: Jan 11 - Oct 3, 1974 | -48.2% | 630 | 2,744 | |
| 1972: Aug 14 - Oct 16 | -5.1% | 63 | 79 | |
| 1968: Jul 11 - Aug 2 | -5.6% | 22 | 75 | |
| 1968: Nov 29 - May 26, 1970 | -36.1% | 543 | 1,193 | |
| 1967: Sep 25 - Mar 5, 1968 | -10.1% | 162 | 217 | |
| 1967: May 8 - Jun 5 | -6.5% | 28 | 84 | |
| 1966: Feb 9 - Oct 7 | -22.2% | 240 | 449 | |
| 1965: May 13 - Jun 28 | -9.6% | 46 | 137 | |
| 1963: Oct 28 - Nov 22 | -6.5% | 25 | 50 | |
| 1961: Apr 17 - Apr 24 | -6.2% | 7 | 198 | |
| 1961: Dec 12 - Jun 26, 1962 | -28.0% | 196 | 630 | |
| 1959: Aug 3 - Oct 25, 1960 | -14.0% | 449 | 543 | |
| 1956: Aug 3 - Oct 22, 1957 | -21.5% | 445 | 782 | |
| 1956: Mar 20 - May 28 | -9.8% | 69 | 118 | |
| 1955: Sep 23 - Oct 11 | -10.6% | 18 | 52 | |
| 1955: Mar 4 - Mar 14 | -6.8% | 10 | 39 | |
| 1955: Jan 3 - Jan 17 | -5.9% | 14 | 32 | |
| 1955: Nov 14 - Jan 23, 1956 | -7.1% | 70 | 116 | |
| 1929: Sep 16 - Jun 1, 1932 | -86.2% | 989 | 9,137 | |
| 1929: May 3 - May 27 | -8.2% | 24 | 45 | |
| 1929: Mar 15 - Mar 26 | -6.6% | 11 | 48 | |
| 1929: Feb 1 - Feb 15 | -5.8% | 14 | 42 | |
| 1928: May 14 - Jun 12 | -10.3% | 29 | 106 | |
| 1928: Nov 30 - Dec 10 | -8.1% | 10 | 31 |
Complete record (73 rows). Raw dataset: https://historyofmarket.com/api/sp500/drawdowns.json
Data & Source
GET /api/sp500/drawdowns.json — Canonical dataset endpoint.
Exchange closing prices · Company filings · Robert Shiller · FRED · NBER.
FAQ
What was the deepest drawdown on record?
1929: Sep 16 - Jun 1, 1932: a collapse of -86.2%, taking 989 trading days to reach trough.
Where does this data come from?
History of Market combines public market and macro datasets — exchange closing prices, company filings, Robert Shiller, FRED, NBER, and the UBS Global Investment Returns Yearbook (Dimson–Marsh–Staunton). The exact endpoint for this panel is linked below.
How often is it updated?
Daily-tier datasets refresh after the U.S. market close, with a broader weekly refresh on Sunday. The timestamp shown on this page comes from the JSON payload.
Can I use the data?
Yes, for research and education with attribution to History of Market. Upstream data sources retain their own terms.