In the table below, you can see historical stock market returns from 1973 through 2008, on a year by year basis. Negative stock market returns occur, on average, one out of every four years. You will see the positive years far outweigh the negative years.
No one knows ahead of time when those negative stock market returns are going to occur. If you are not willing to stay invested through a bear market than you need to either stay out of stocks, or be prepared to lose money, because no one will be able to consistently time the market to get in and out and avoid the down years.
For a more colorful and informative way to view historical stock market returns, check out the graphs in Best and Worst Rolling Index Returns.
Historical Stock Market Returns
| Historical S&P 500 Index Stock Market Returns | ||
| Year | Return | |
| 1973 | -14.70% | |
| 1974 | -26.5% | |
| 1975 | 37.2% | |
| 1976 | 23.8% | |
| 1977 | -7.2% | |
| 1978 | 6.6% | |
| 1979 | 18.4% | |
| 1980 | 32.4% | |
| 1981 | -4.9% | |
| 1982 | 21.4% | |
| 1983 | 22.5 | |
| 1984 | 6.3% | |
| 1985 | 32.2% | |
| 1986 | 18.5% | |
| 1987 | 5.2% | |
| 1988 | 16.8% | |
| 1989 | 31.5% | |
| 1990 | -3.2% | |
| 1991 | 30.5% | |
| 1992 | 7.7% | |
| 1993 | 10.0% | |
| 1994 | 1.3% | |
| 1995 | 37.4% | |
| 1996 | 23.1% | |
| 1997 | 33.4% | |
| 1998 | 28.6% | |
| 1999 | 21.0% | |
| 2000 | -9.1% | |
| 2001 | -11.90% | |
| 2002 | -22.1% | |
| 2003 | 28.7% | |
| 2004 | 10.9% | |
| 2005 | 4.9% | |
| 2006 | 15.9% | |
| 2007 | 5.49% | |
| 2008 | -37.0% | |
