On this page is an interactive history of S&P 500 sales growth – the year-over-year change in the index's trailing twelve-month revenue per share, going back to 1947. Switch between nominal and real growth and snap the summary stats to any window you want.
The S&P 500 sales growth calculator
Using the S&P 500 sales growth calculator
The tool opens on nominal year-over-year sales growth, drawn as one bar per year. Change the basis or drag the chart and it recomputes immediately.
- Nominal / Real (CPI-adj) – read growth in current dollars, or with inflation taken out of both years.
- Highlights cards – the latest annual change, the average for your chosen window (shown with the full-history figure), and the fastest and slowest years within it.
- Chart range – choose a span with the 10Y / 20Y / 30Y / 50Y / Max shortcuts or drag the slider beneath the chart. Send the data to a spreadsheet with the buttons on the right.
- By-year table – one row per December, newest first, sortable, with nominal and real growth columns.
S&P 500 sales growth by year
Below is the year-by-year history of S&P 500 sales growth (December over December), in both nominal and real terms. Click to expand.
S&P 500 sales growth by year
| Year | Nominal | Real (CPI-adj) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | +5.08% | +2.34% |
| 2024 | +5.25% | +2.30% |
| 2023 | +6.81% | +3.35% |
| 2022 | +11.88% | +5.09% |
| 2021 | +15.00% | +7.44% |
| 2020 | -3.72% | -5.01% |
| 2019 | +5.36% | +3.01% |
| 2018 | +9.05% | +7.01% |
| 2017 | +7.03% | +4.82% |
| 2016 | +2.09% | +0.01% |
| 2015 | -3.11% | -3.81% |
| 2014 | +4.16% | +3.38% |
| 2013 | +2.24% | +0.72% |
| 2012 | +3.76% | +1.98% |
| 2011 | +9.36% | +6.22% |
| 2010 | +5.98% | +4.42% |
| 2009 | -12.86% | -15.17% |
| 2008 | +1.70% | +1.60% |
| 2007 | +7.62% | +3.40% |
| 2006 | +8.94% | +6.24% |
| 2005 | +10.93% | +7.27% |
| 2004 | +10.88% | +7.39% |
| 2003 | +5.37% | +3.43% |
| 2002 | -8.45% | -10.58% |
| 2001 | -1.18% | -2.69% |
| 2000 | +11.18% | +7.54% |
| 1999 | +8.60% | +5.76% |
| 1998 | -0.55% | -2.13% |
| 1997 | +5.75% | +3.98% |
| 1996 | +1.01% | -2.24% |
| 1995 | +9.94% | +7.21% |
| 1994 | +0.47% | -2.15% |
| 1993 | +2.24% | -0.49% |
| 1992 | +3.12% | +0.21% |
| 1991 | +2.64% | -0.41% |
| 1990 | +4.56% | -1.45% |
| 1989 | +9.98% | +5.10% |
| 1988 | +12.31% | +7.56% |
| 1987 | -1.49% | -5.67% |
| 1986 | +2.00% | +0.89% |
| 1985 | +4.62% | +0.79% |
| 1984 | +13.88% | +9.55% |
| 1983 | +0.72% | -2.96% |
| 1982 | -0.81% | -4.47% |
| 1981 | +4.99% | -3.61% |
| 1980 | +12.92% | +0.36% |
| 1979 | +12.56% | -0.65% |
| 1978 | +11.29% | +2.09% |
| 1977 | +10.15% | +3.23% |
| 1976 | +14.50% | +9.19% |
| 1975 | -1.23% | -7.63% |
| 1974 | +20.31% | +7.09% |
| 1973 | +13.06% | +4.00% |
| 1972 | +7.79% | +4.24% |
| 1971 | +8.78% | +5.34% |
| 1970 | +3.71% | -1.76% |
| 1969 | +2.94% | -3.06% |
| 1968 | +13.35% | +8.24% |
| 1967 | +6.23% | +3.09% |
| 1966 | +7.21% | +3.63% |
| 1965 | +11.23% | +9.13% |
| 1964 | +6.29% | +5.27% |
| 1963 | +6.63% | +4.90% |
| 1962 | +7.43% | +6.02% |
| 1961 | +1.97% | +1.29% |
| 1960 | +2.34% | +0.97% |
| 1959 | +5.35% | +3.56% |
| 1958 | -1.62% | -3.32% |
| 1957 | +2.18% | -0.70% |
| 1956 | +1.16% | -1.77% |
| 1955 | +13.80% | +13.38% |
| 1954 | -7.88% | -7.19% |
| 1953 | +6.22% | +5.43% |
| 1952 | +8.67% | +7.86% |
| 1951 | +16.13% | +9.56% |
| 1950 | +10.65% | +4.45% |
| 1949 | -3.93% | -1.89% |
| 1948 | +18.69% | +15.24% |
| 1947 | +40.51% | +29.10% |
What is S&P 500 sales growth?
Sales growth is the percentage change in the index's trailing-twelve-month revenue per share from one year to the next, measured December over December.
Revenue growth is usually much tamer than earnings growth – the top line does not take the write-downs and one-time charges that whip earnings around, so it rarely posts the violent swings earnings did in 2008–2009. It tends to track the broad economy, dipping in recessions and rising with nominal output.
Two caveats to the story:
- Real growth strips inflation out, which is a big deal for the 1970s, when much of the headline sales gain was simply higher prices rather than more business.
- The series is spliced: revenue from 2000 on is from S&P Dow Jones Indices, while the years before that are a DQYDJ compilation from older sources, so growth rates in the early decades are rougher than the modern ones.
Methodology and sources
Revenue from 2000 on comes from S&P Dow Jones Indices; 1946 through 1999 is a DQYDJ historical compilation (learn more here). Index prices and CPI come from Robert J. Shiller's compiled dataset. Growth is the change between two December readings, so it begins in 1947.
For how the price and inflation series are built, see the S&P 500 Return Calculator.
- Sales growth is the December-over-December change in trailing-twelve-month revenue per share.
- Quarter-end months hold the actual reported figures; sales also updates on a lag, so the most recent year can lean on the latest reported value.
- Real growth deflates both years with CPI-U before taking the change.
\text{Sales Growth}_y = \dfrac{\text{Sales}_{\text{Dec},\,y}}{\text{Sales}_{\text{Dec},\,y-1}} - 1