On this page is a NASDAQ Annual Return Rankings tool. It shows every calendar year return1 the NASDAQ Composite has posted since 1972, ranked from best to worst, with toggles for dividend reinvestment and inflation adjustment.
1 - See methodology for how these annual returns work.
The NASDAQ Annual Return Rankings Calculator
Using the NASDAQ Annual Return Rankings Calculator
The default view shows nominal total returns (dividends reinvested). Everything responds in real time as you toggle settings.
- Reinvest Dividends – default on. Switch off for price-only annual returns.
- Adjust for Inflation – flips every annual return into real (CPI-adjusted) terms.
- Highlights cards – eight stats spanning the full NASDAQ history: best and worst calendar year on record, mean and median annual return, win rate (defined as the share of years that finished positive), longest positive and negative streaks, and the most recent year's return.
- Chart and table – the bar chart greens positive years and reds negative ones; the brush chart below lets you zoom to any date range. The table beneath sorts on any column header you choose.
Historical NASDAQ annual returns table
Below is the static reference table of every NASDAQ calendar-year return on record, going back to 1972. Both price return and total return (dividends reinvested) versions are shown.
Full NASDAQ Composite annual returns table (1972–2025)
| Year | Price Return | Total Return | Real Price | Real Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | +18.46% | +19.26% | +15.37% | +16.15% |
| 2024 | +34.34% | +35.35% | +30.56% | +31.55% |
| 2023 | +35.53% | +36.74% | +31.14% | +32.31% |
| 2022 | -29.96% | -29.40% | -34.20% | -33.68% |
| 2021 | +22.63% | +23.43% | +14.57% | +15.32% |
| 2020 | +43.75% | +45.07% | +42.73% | +44.05% |
| 2019 | +28.83% | +30.26% | +25.91% | +27.31% |
| 2018 | -1.10% | -0.02% | -3.04% | -1.98% |
| 2017 | +27.28% | +28.71% | +24.62% | +26.03% |
| 2016 | +7.39% | +8.78% | +5.23% | +6.59% |
| 2015 | +6.50% | +7.75% | +5.83% | +7.07% |
| 2014 | +16.11% | +17.55% | +15.36% | +16.79% |
| 2013 | +35.69% | +37.54% | +33.67% | +35.49% |
| 2012 | +15.46% | +16.99% | +13.46% | +14.97% |
| 2011 | -1.14% | -0.15% | -4.07% | -3.11% |
| 2010 | +18.51% | +19.63% | +16.83% | +17.93% |
| 2009 | +45.53% | +47.00% | +41.54% | +42.97% |
| 2008 | -42.67% | -42.17% | -42.66% | -42.15% |
| 2007 | +9.44% | +10.13% | +5.12% | +5.78% |
| 2006 | +8.27% | +8.97% | +5.61% | +6.29% |
| 2005 | +4.49% | +5.16% | +1.12% | +1.77% |
| 2004 | +9.84% | +10.45% | +6.29% | +6.87% |
| 2003 | +41.08% | +41.76% | +38.27% | +38.93% |
| 2002 | -29.86% | -29.49% | -31.56% | -31.20% |
| 2001 | -25.59% | -25.31% | -26.76% | -26.49% |
| 2000 | -28.93% | -28.81% | -31.29% | -31.17% |
| 1999 | +80.58% | +81.10% | +75.87% | +76.38% |
| 1998 | +32.17% | +32.72% | +30.08% | +30.62% |
| 1997 | +21.27% | +21.87% | +19.25% | +19.83% |
| 1996 | +23.41% | +24.18% | +19.38% | +20.12% |
| 1995 | +42.46% | +43.53% | +38.94% | +39.99% |
| 1994 | -3.66% | -2.84% | -6.10% | -5.30% |
| 1993 | +15.37% | +16.55% | +12.22% | +13.37% |
| 1992 | +21.54% | +22.95% | +18.03% | +19.41% |
| 1991 | +46.97% | +48.80% | +42.72% | +44.49% |
| 1990 | -17.55% | -16.51% | -22.40% | -21.42% |
| 1989 | +19.49% | +20.71% | +14.19% | +15.36% |
| 1988 | +19.47% | +20.70% | +14.42% | +15.60% |
| 1987 | -11.38% | -10.57% | -15.06% | -14.28% |
| 1986 | +10.83% | +11.97% | +9.53% | +10.66% |
| 1985 | +32.38% | +34.21% | +27.54% | +29.31% |
| 1984 | -13.19% | -11.82% | -16.56% | -15.25% |
| 1983 | +19.58% | +21.55% | +15.22% | +17.12% |
| 1982 | +18.20% | +21.42% | +13.84% | +16.95% |
| 1981 | -0.63% | +2.23% | -8.76% | -6.14% |
| 1980 | +33.38% | +37.00% | +18.71% | +21.94% |
| 1979 | +26.87% | +30.74% | +12.02% | +15.44% |
| 1978 | +13.06% | +15.97% | +3.73% | +6.40% |
| 1977 | +9.69% | +12.97% | +2.82% | +5.90% |
| 1976 | +24.56% | +28.88% | +18.58% | +22.70% |
| 1975 | +28.31% | +33.18% | +19.77% | +24.32% |
| 1974 | -34.84% | -33.07% | -41.87% | -40.29% |
| 1973 | -31.90% | -30.76% | -37.49% | -36.44% |
| 1972 | +21.40% | +21.40% | +17.40% | +17.40% |
The 1999 tech-bubble anomaly...
Across 54 years of NASDAQ annual data, roughly 76% of calendar years finish positive on a total-return basis – the highest hit rate of the three major US indices in this comparison.
The single best year on record is 1999 at +81% total return – the climactic year of the infamous 1995–1999 dot-com run-up. Unlike the S&P 500's or Dow Jones's best-year-ever, the NASDAQ's didn't come as a snapback out of a bear; it came as the peak before the fall. The three years that followed – 2000 (−29%), 2001 (−25%), 2002 (−29%) – are the only three-year-in-a-row negative TR streak in the dataset.
The down years cluster otherwise too. 1973–1974 was a back-to-back (−31%, −33%). 2008 stood alone at −42% (the single worst year on record). 2022 stood alone at −29%. The NASDAQ has no four-year-in-a-row negative TR streak – though the dataset starts in 1971, so it doesn't reach back to the Great Depression.
The longest positive TR streak is nine years – 1975 through 1983, the long climb out of the 1973–74 bear. Snapback pairs are tight after the worst single years: 1974 (−33%) was followed by 1975 (+33%); 2008 (−42%) by 2009 (+47%); 2022 (−29%) by 2023 (+37%).
Methodology and sources
NASDAQ Composite daily prices come from the Federal Reserve's NASDAQCOM series on FRED, with each monthly value being the average of that month's daily closes. For dividend back-out detail and additional construction notes, see DQYDJ's NASDAQ Return Calculator.
Heads up on methodology vs. what you see in news headlines: the NASDAQ's calendar-year return as quoted in the financial press is typically the December 31 close over the prior December 31 close (or January 2 open) +/- a few days for market closes. The numbers here use the December monthly-average instead.
Most years the two agree within fractions of a percentage point; volatile ones (1999, 2000, 2008, 2020, 2022) can diverge by 1–3 points. For headline-style annual numbers, see our year-specific NASDAQ return posts.
- Annual price return for year Y: (December Y monthly-average price) ÷ (December Y−1 monthly-average price) − 1.
- Total return reinvests each month's per-share dividend into more index shares at that month's price, then takes the Dec-over-Dec ratio of shares × price.
- Real (inflation-adjusted) returns divide by the CPI ratio between the two Decembers.
