This article analyzes the historical performance of the S&P 500.
Introduction
The S&P 500 launched in 1957 with 500 constituent stocks. (Prior to that, it had operated for 30 years with 90 stocks: Ref. The Dow® and the S&P 500®: Where it all Began - S&P Dow Jones Indices)
This article analyzes the historical returns of the S&P 500.
Note: This article was translated from my original post.
Data Source
The data presented in this article is based on information retrieved from the Yahoo! Finance API using yfinance, which the author has analyzed and visualized.
※ Disclaimer: This site publishes content that the author has researched for educational purposes. While we strive for accuracy, we do not guarantee the reliability of this information. This content does not constitute investment advice or recommend any specific products. Please invest at your own risk. For details, see here.
Historical Returns of the S&P 500
Annual Returns
These are the annual returns since the S&P 500's inception in 1957 (without dividend reinvestment). While over 70% of years ended positively, the data also shows that during crash years, the index saw declines of nearly 30-40%.
Let's also look at the data with dividend reinvestment.
This visualization shows data from 1988 onward, when this information became available.
You can see that reinvesting dividends adds a few percentage points to returns each year.
Annualized Returns
| Period | Annualized Return |
|---|---|
| Past 3 years | 21.34% |
| Past 5 years | 15.06% |
| Past 10 years | 14.92% |
| Past 20 years | 10.93% |
| Past 30 years | 10.33% |
| All periods (since 1988) | 11.36% |
These are the annualized returns including dividend reinvestment, calculated as of the time of writing (December 14, 2025) looking back over various periods. The "all periods" calculation covers from 1988 onward, when dividend reinvestment data became available.
Taking a long-term view, the returns tend to converge around approximately 10% annually.
Price Index
Here's the index movement.
The long-term upward trend is clearly visible. You can also see the compounding effect of reinvesting dividends.
Conclusion
I've researched and compiled the historical returns of the S&P 500.
While this analysis focused solely on the S&P 500 itself, it's important to note that understanding the real impact on investors requires considering factors like inflation and currency fluctuations as well.
I hope this information proves helpful.
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