- Dow Jones historical returns since inception (1897).
- Dow Jones (DJIA) annual returns calculated from closing index values as on last trading day of December.
- Dow Jones (DJIA) yearly rolling return is absolute return.
- Dow Jones (DJIA) historical 5, 10 years rolling return is compound return (CAGR).
| Year | Dow Jones Yearly Return | Dow Jones 5 Years Return | Dow Jones 10 Years Return |
| 1897 | |||
| 1898 | 22% | ||
| 1899 | 9% | ||
| 1900 | 8% | ||
| 1901 | 9% | ||
| 1902 | 0.4% | 5% | |
| 1903 | 24% | 4% | |
| 1904 | 43% | 1% | |
| 1905 | 38% | 6% | |
| 1906 | 2% | 8% | |
| 1907 | 38% | 2% | 2% |
| 1908 | 47% | 12% | 4% |
| 1909 | 15% | 7% | 4% |
| 1910 | 18% | 3% | 1% |
| 1911 | 0% | 3% | 2% |
| 1912 | 8% | 8% | 3% |
| 1913 | 10% | 2% | 5% |
| 1914 | 31% | 11% | 2% |
| 1915 | 82% | 4% | 0% |
| 1916 | 4% | 3% | 0% |
| 1917 | 22% | 3% | 2% |
| 1918 | 11% | 1% | 0.5% |
| 1919 | 30% | 14% | 1% |
| 1920 | 33% | 6% | 1% |
| 1921 | 12% | 3% | 0.1% |
| 1922 | 21% | 6% | 1% |
| 1923 | 3% | 3% | 2% |
| 1924 | 26% | 2% | 8% |
| 1925 | 30% | 17% | 5% |
| 1926 | 0% | 14% | 5% |
| 1927 | 28% | 15% | 10% |
| 1928 | 49% | 26% | 14% |
| 1929 | 17% | 16% | 9% |
| 1930 | 34% | 1% | 9% |
| 1931 | 53% | 13% | 0.4% |
| 1932 | 23% | 21% | 5% |
| 1933 | 64% | 20% | 0% |
| 1934 | 5% | 16% | 1% |
| 1935 | 39% | 3% | 1% |
| 1936 | 25% | 18% | 1% |
| 1937 | 33% | 15% | 5% |
| 1938 | 28% | 9% | 6% |
| 1939 | 3% | 8% | 5% |
| 1940 | 13% | 2% | 2% |
| 1941 | 15% | 9% | 4% |
| 1942 | 8% | 0.2% | 7% |
| 1943 | 14% | 3% | 3% |
| 1944 | 12% | 0% | 4% |
| 1945 | 27% | 8% | 3% |
| 1946 | 8% | 10% | 0.2% |
| 1947 | 2% | 9% | 4% |
| 1948 | 2% | 5% | 1% |
| 1949 | 13% | 6% | 3% |
| 1950 | 17% | 4% | 6% |
| 1951 | 14% | 9% | 9% |
| 1952 | 8% | 10% | 9% |
| 1953 | 4% | 10% | 8% |
| 1954 | 44% | 15% | 10% |
| 1955 | 21% | 16% | 10% |
| 1956 | 2% | 13% | 11% |
| 1957 | 13% | 8% | 9% |
| 1958 | 34% | 16% | 13% |
| 1959 | 16% | 11% | 13% |
| 1960 | 9% | 5% | 10% |
| 1961 | 19% | 8% | 11% |
| 1962 | 11% | 8% | 8% |
| 1963 | 17% | 6% | 11% |
| 1964 | 15% | 5% | 8% |
| 1965 | 11% | 9% | 7% |
| 1966 | 19% | 1% | 5% |
| 1967 | 15% | 7% | 8% |
| 1968 | 4% | 4% | 5% |
| 1969 | 15% | 2% | 2% |
| 1970 | 5% | 3% | 3% |
| 1971 | 6% | 3% | 2% |
| 1972 | 15% | 2% | 5% |
| 1973 | 17% | 2% | 1% |
| 1974 | 28% | 5% | 3% |
| 1975 | 38% | 0% | 1% |
| 1976 | 18% | 2% | 2% |
| 1977 | 17% | 4% | 1% |
| 1978 | 3% | 1% | 2% |
| 1979 | 4% | 6% | 0% |
| 1980 | 15% | 2% | 1% |
| 1981 | 9% | 3% | 0.2% |
| 1982 | 20% | 5% | 0% |
| 1983 | 20% | 9% | 4% |
| 1984 | 4% | 8% | 7% |
| 1985 | 28% | 10% | 6% |
| 1986 | 23% | 17% | 7% |
| 1987 | 2% | 13% | 9% |
| 1988 | 12% | 11% | 10% |
| 1989 | 27% | 18% | 13% |
| 1990 | 4% | 11% | 11% |
| 1991 | 20% | 11% | 14% |
| 1992 | 4% | 11% | 12% |
| 1993 | 14% | 12% | 12% |
| 1994 | 2% | 7% | 12% |
| 1995 | 33% | 14% | 13% |
| 1996 | 26% | 15% | 13% |
| 1997 | 23% | 19% | 15% |
| 1998 | 16% | 20% | 16% |
| 1999 | 25% | 25% | 15% |
| 2000 | 6% | 16% | 15% |
| 2001 | 7% | 9% | 12% |
| 2002 | 17% | 1% | 10% |
| 2003 | 25% | 3% | 11% |
| 2004 | 3% | 1% | 11% |
| 2005 | 1% | 0.1% | 8% |
| 2006 | 16% | 4% | 7% |
| 2007 | 6% | 10% | 5% |
| 2008 | 34% | 3% | 0.5% |
| 2009 | 19% | 1% | 1% |
| 2010 | 11% | 2% | 1% |
| 2011 | 6% | 0.4% | 2% |
| 2012 | 7% | 0.2% | 5% |
| 2013 | 57% | 13% | 4% |
| 2014 | 8% | 11% | 5% |
| 2015 | 2% | 9% | 5% |
| 2016 | 13% | 10% | 5% |
| 2017 | 25% | 14% | 6% |
| 1 Year | 5 Years | 10 Years | |
| Rolling Return Occurrences | 120 | 116 | 111 |
| Negative Return Occurrences | 34% | 27% | 18% |
| Positive Return Occurrences | 66% | 73% | 82% |
Warren Buffett
The Dow Jones Industrials advanced from 66 to 11,497 in the 20th Century, a staggering 17,320% increase that materialized despite four costly wars, a Great Depression and many recessions.
And don’t forget that shareholders received substantial dividends throughout the century as well.
