30+ Years of Global Equity Returns by Region

What We're Showing

This chart shows yearly equity returns by region since 1991 for the U.S., UK, Japan, and Europe (excluding the UK).

The returns are total U.S. dollar returns shown in percentages, with the data sourced from Schroders, with 2024 YTD returns as of November 8th, 2024.

U.S. Dominates Recent Global Equity Returns

The U.S. has been the dominant global equity market as the top returning region for 10 years out of the past 15 (when including 2024 YTD performance).

In the period before that, emerging markets were the best-returning region, providing the best returns 12 years in the two decades spanning 1991 to 2010.

The biggest period of underperformance by U.S. equities was after the Dotcom bubble crash.

From 2002 to 2005, the U.S. was the worst-returning region in terms of equities, with 2002 seeing the worst return ever for U.S. equities at -23%.