Stock market returns since 1989
If you invested $100 in the S&P 500 at the beginning of 1989, you would have about $2,591.34 at the beginning of 2021, assuming you reinvested all dividends. This is a return on investment of 2,491.34%, or 10.71% per year.
This investment result beats inflation during this period for an inflation-adjusted return of about 1,113.12% cumulatively, or 8.11% per year.
The graph below shows the performance of $100 over time if invested in an S&P 500 index fund. The returns assume that all dividends are automatically reinvested.
This chart shows the rate of gains and loss by month, including dividends:
Adjusting stock market return for inflation
The nominal return on investment of $100 is $2,491.34, or 2,491.34%. This means by 2021 you would have $2,591.34 in your pocket.
However, it's important to take into account the effect of inflation when considering an investment and especially a long-term investment. You can convert S&P returns to their real (inflation-adjusted) value using an inflation calculation based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index (CPI).
In the case of the returns described above, the CPI in 1989 was 124.000 and the CPI in 2021 was 264.877.
The ratio between these CPIs describes how relative buying power of a dollar has changed over 32 years.
Adjusted for inflation, the $2,591.34 nominal end value of the original $100 investment would have a real value of roughly $1,113.12 in 1989 dollars. This means the inflation-adjusted return is 1,113.12% as opposed to the original 2,491.34%.
For more information on inflation, see our U.S. inflation calculator for 1989.
Full monthly data
The table below shows the full dataset pertaining to a $100 investment, including gains and losses over the 384-month period between 1989 and 2021.
Note that data shown is the monthly average closing price. Returns include dividends.
Year |
Month |
Return (%) |
Amount ($) |
1989 |
1 |
3.30% |
103.30 |
1989 |
2 |
-0.16% |
103.13 |
1989 |
3 |
3.56% |
106.81 |
1989 |
4 |
4.12% |
111.20 |
1989 |
5 |
3.39% |
114.98 |
1989 |
6 |
2.80% |
118.20 |
1989 |
7 |
4.69% |
123.74 |
1989 |
8 |
0.46% |
124.31 |
1989 |
9 |
0.29% |
124.66 |
1989 |
10 |
-1.81% |
122.40 |
1989 |
11 |
2.74% |
125.75 |
1989 |
12 |
-2.21% |
122.97 |
1990 |
1 |
-2.53% |
119.86 |
1990 |
2 |
2.71% |
123.11 |
1990 |
3 |
0.20% |
123.35 |
1990 |
4 |
3.85% |
128.10 |
1990 |
5 |
3.17% |
132.16 |
1990 |
6 |
0.17% |
132.38 |
1990 |
7 |
-7.86% |
121.98 |
1990 |
8 |
-4.34% |
116.68 |
1990 |
9 |
-2.32% |
113.98 |
1990 |
10 |
2.98% |
117.38 |
1990 |
11 |
4.59% |
122.76 |
1990 |
12 |
-0.69% |
121.92 |
1991 |
1 |
11.61% |
136.07 |
1991 |
2 |
3.04% |
140.22 |
1991 |
3 |
2.26% |
143.38 |
1991 |
4 |
-0.18% |
143.13 |
1991 |
5 |
0.35% |
143.62 |
1991 |
6 |
0.78% |
144.74 |
1991 |
7 |
2.68% |
148.62 |
1991 |
8 |
-0.30% |
148.17 |
1991 |
9 |
0.18% |
148.44 |
1991 |
10 |
0.02% |
148.46 |
1991 |
11 |
0.94% |
149.85 |
1991 |
12 |
7.36% |
160.88 |
1992 |
1 |
-0.60% |
159.91 |
1992 |
2 |
-1.01% |
158.29 |
1992 |
3 |
0.26% |
158.71 |
1992 |
4 |
2.07% |
161.99 |
1992 |
5 |
-1.33% |
159.84 |
1992 |
6 |
1.91% |
162.90 |
1992 |
7 |
0.94% |
164.43 |
1992 |
8 |
0.38% |
165.05 |
1992 |
9 |
-1.18% |
163.10 |
1992 |
10 |
2.76% |
167.60 |
1992 |
11 |
3.27% |
173.08 |
1992 |
12 |
0.14% |
173.33 |
1993 |
1 |
1.72% |
176.32 |
1993 |
2 |
2.15% |
180.11 |
1993 |
3 |
-1.34% |
177.69 |
1993 |
4 |
0.72% |
178.98 |
1993 |
5 |
0.87% |
180.53 |
1993 |
6 |
0.06% |
180.64 |
1993 |
7 |
1.76% |
183.82 |
1993 |
8 |
1.35% |
186.31 |
1993 |
9 |
1.24% |
188.63 |
1993 |
10 |
0.01% |
188.64 |
1993 |
11 |
0.89% |
190.31 |
1993 |
12 |
1.74% |
193.62 |
1994 |
1 |
-0.08% |
193.47 |
1994 |
2 |
-1.42% |
190.72 |
1994 |
3 |
-3.35% |
184.34 |
1994 |
4 |
1.06% |
186.29 |
1994 |
5 |
1.11% |
188.35 |
1994 |
6 |
-0.52% |
187.37 |
1994 |
7 |
3.08% |
193.15 |
1994 |
8 |
0.82% |
194.73 |
1994 |
9 |
-0.44% |
193.86 |
1994 |
10 |
-0.37% |
193.15 |
1994 |
11 |
-1.03% |
191.16 |
1994 |
12 |
2.45% |
195.85 |
1995 |
1 |
3.82% |
203.33 |
1995 |
2 |
2.56% |
208.53 |
1995 |
3 |
3.22% |
215.24 |
1995 |
4 |
3.35% |
222.44 |
1995 |
5 |
3.18% |
229.51 |
1995 |
6 |
3.55% |
237.65 |
1995 |
7 |
0.51% |
238.87 |
1995 |
8 |
3.72% |
247.75 |
1995 |
9 |
0.91% |
250.01 |
1995 |
10 |
2.36% |
255.91 |
1995 |
11 |
3.39% |
264.58 |
1995 |
12 |
0.16% |
265.01 |
1996 |
1 |
5.90% |
280.66 |
1996 |
2 |
-0.20% |
280.10 |
1996 |
3 |
0.20% |
280.65 |
1996 |
4 |
2.35% |
287.26 |
1996 |
5 |
1.28% |
290.93 |
1996 |
6 |
-3.48% |
280.82 |
1996 |
7 |
3.08% |
289.46 |
1996 |
8 |
2.02% |
295.31 |
1996 |
9 |
4.12% |
307.48 |
1996 |
10 |
5.05% |
323.01 |
1996 |
11 |
1.20% |
326.88 |
1996 |
12 |
3.26% |
337.53 |
1997 |
1 |
4.36% |
352.25 |
1997 |
2 |
-0.62% |
350.05 |
1997 |
3 |
-3.41% |
338.13 |
1997 |
4 |
9.22% |
369.30 |
1997 |
5 |
5.34% |
389.01 |
1997 |
6 |
5.74% |
411.33 |
1997 |
7 |
0.35% |
412.76 |
1997 |
8 |
1.19% |
417.68 |
1997 |
9 |
1.65% |
424.55 |
1997 |
10 |
-1.15% |
419.66 |
1997 |
11 |
2.63% |
430.71 |
1997 |
12 |
0.24% |
431.74 |
1998 |
1 |
6.40% |
459.38 |
1998 |
2 |
5.31% |
483.78 |
1998 |
3 |
3.41% |
500.26 |
1998 |
4 |
-0.22% |
499.15 |
1998 |
5 |
0.12% |
499.73 |
1998 |
6 |
4.47% |
522.06 |
1998 |
7 |
-6.97% |
485.66 |
1998 |
8 |
-4.90% |
461.87 |
1998 |
9 |
1.29% |
467.83 |
1998 |
10 |
10.97% |
519.18 |
1998 |
11 |
4.10% |
540.48 |
1998 |
12 |
5.05% |
567.77 |
1999 |
1 |
-0.07% |
567.39 |
1999 |
2 |
2.92% |
583.98 |
1999 |
3 |
4.25% |
608.79 |
1999 |
4 |
-0.10% |
608.19 |
1999 |
5 |
-0.61% |
604.47 |
1999 |
6 |
4.52% |
631.81 |
1999 |
7 |
-3.77% |
607.96 |
1999 |
8 |
-0.60% |
604.33 |
1999 |
9 |
-1.27% |
596.64 |
1999 |
10 |
7.11% |
639.03 |
1999 |
11 |
2.81% |
656.98 |
1999 |
12 |
-0.12% |
656.20 |
2000 |
1 |
-2.48% |
639.94 |
2000 |
2 |
3.94% |
665.16 |
2000 |
3 |
1.42% |
674.63 |
2000 |
4 |
-2.84% |
655.48 |
2000 |
5 |
3.16% |
676.22 |
2000 |
6 |
0.85% |
681.97 |
2000 |
7 |
0.94% |
688.38 |
2000 |
8 |
-1.08% |
680.95 |
2000 |
9 |
-5.21% |
645.44 |
2000 |
10 |
-0.77% |
640.45 |
2000 |
11 |
-3.32% |
619.19 |
2000 |
12 |
0.46% |
622.01 |
2001 |
1 |
-2.14% |
608.72 |
2001 |
2 |
-9.08% |
553.45 |
2001 |
3 |
0.45% |
555.93 |
2001 |
4 |
6.88% |
594.18 |
2001 |
5 |
-2.39% |
579.98 |
2001 |
6 |
-2.66% |
564.55 |
2001 |
7 |
-2.05% |
553.00 |
2001 |
8 |
-11.25% |
490.81 |
2001 |
9 |
3.18% |
506.43 |
2001 |
10 |
5.05% |
532.02 |
2001 |
11 |
1.47% |
539.82 |
2001 |
12 |
-0.30% |
538.22 |
2002 |
1 |
-3.35% |
520.17 |
2002 |
2 |
4.95% |
545.90 |
2002 |
3 |
-3.51% |
526.71 |
2002 |
4 |
-2.82% |
511.86 |
2002 |
5 |
-5.92% |
481.55 |
2002 |
6 |
-10.76% |
429.74 |
2002 |
7 |
1.14% |
434.64 |
2002 |
8 |
-4.76% |
413.96 |
2002 |
9 |
-1.37% |
408.30 |
2002 |
10 |
6.63% |
435.35 |
2002 |
11 |
-1.04% |
430.84 |
2002 |
12 |
-0.22% |
429.88 |
2003 |
1 |
-6.41% |
402.31 |
2003 |
2 |
1.31% |
407.57 |
2003 |
3 |
5.29% |
429.11 |
2003 |
4 |
5.31% |
451.91 |
2003 |
5 |
5.70% |
477.69 |
2003 |
6 |
0.60% |
480.53 |
2003 |
7 |
-0.17% |
479.73 |
2003 |
8 |
3.16% |
494.90 |
2003 |
9 |
2.03% |
504.94 |
2003 |
10 |
1.21% |
511.05 |
2003 |
11 |
3.06% |
526.71 |
2003 |
12 |
4.93% |
552.70 |
2004 |
1 |
1.09% |
558.70 |
2004 |
2 |
-1.57% |
549.96 |
2004 |
3 |
0.97% |
555.28 |
2004 |
4 |
-2.56% |
541.04 |
2004 |
5 |
2.86% |
556.51 |
2004 |
6 |
-2.24% |
544.05 |
2004 |
7 |
-1.39% |
536.50 |
2004 |
8 |
2.78% |
551.43 |
2004 |
9 |
0.10% |
551.99 |
2004 |
10 |
4.77% |
578.34 |
2004 |
11 |
2.73% |
594.12 |
2004 |
12 |
-1.35% |
586.10 |
2005 |
1 |
1.68% |
595.96 |
2005 |
2 |
-0.26% |
594.43 |
2005 |
3 |
-2.41% |
580.11 |
2005 |
4 |
1.34% |
587.86 |
2005 |
5 |
2.18% |
600.68 |
2005 |
6 |
1.81% |
611.54 |
2005 |
7 |
0.31% |
613.44 |
2005 |
8 |
0.28% |
615.15 |
2005 |
9 |
-2.62% |
599.01 |
2005 |
10 |
3.96% |
622.74 |
2005 |
11 |
2.14% |
636.09 |
2005 |
12 |
1.47% |
645.42 |
2006 |
1 |
-0.02% |
645.32 |
2006 |
2 |
1.49% |
654.91 |
2006 |
3 |
0.80% |
660.13 |
2006 |
4 |
-0.79% |
654.94 |
2006 |
5 |
-2.71% |
637.22 |
2006 |
6 |
0.72% |
641.81 |
2006 |
7 |
2.29% |
656.52 |
2006 |
8 |
2.53% |
673.13 |
2006 |
9 |
3.62% |
697.47 |
2006 |
10 |
2.00% |
711.43 |
2006 |
11 |
2.15% |
726.72 |
2006 |
12 |
0.69% |
731.75 |
2007 |
1 |
1.60% |
743.43 |
2007 |
2 |
-2.47% |
725.04 |
2007 |
3 |
4.18% |
755.35 |
2007 |
4 |
3.39% |
780.97 |
2007 |
5 |
0.34% |
783.66 |
2007 |
6 |
0.57% |
788.17 |
2007 |
7 |
-4.20% |
755.05 |
2007 |
8 |
3.07% |
778.27 |
2007 |
9 |
2.99% |
801.55 |
2007 |
10 |
-4.81% |
763.03 |
2007 |
11 |
1.24% |
772.48 |
2007 |
12 |
-6.64% |
721.22 |
2008 |
1 |
-1.56% |
709.94 |
2008 |
2 |
-2.63% |
691.29 |
2008 |
3 |
4.24% |
720.63 |
2008 |
4 |
2.56% |
739.10 |
2008 |
5 |
-4.25% |
707.71 |
2008 |
6 |
-6.08% |
664.69 |
2008 |
7 |
2.11% |
678.72 |
2008 |
8 |
-4.85% |
645.82 |
2008 |
9 |
-20.19% |
515.41 |
2008 |
10 |
-8.61% |
471.05 |
2008 |
11 |
-0.35% |
469.40 |
2008 |
12 |
-1.10% |
464.26 |
2009 |
1 |
-6.70% |
433.14 |
2009 |
2 |
-5.69% |
408.51 |
2009 |
3 |
12.32% |
458.84 |
2009 |
4 |
6.66% |
489.40 |
2009 |
5 |
2.87% |
503.44 |
2009 |
6 |
1.28% |
509.87 |
2009 |
7 |
8.12% |
551.28 |
2009 |
8 |
3.65% |
571.40 |
2009 |
9 |
2.40% |
585.13 |
2009 |
10 |
2.09% |
597.38 |
2009 |
11 |
2.23% |
610.68 |
2009 |
12 |
1.36% |
618.97 |
2010 |
1 |
-2.90% |
601.03 |
2010 |
2 |
5.94% |
636.75 |
2010 |
3 |
4.09% |
662.78 |
2010 |
4 |
-5.88% |
623.79 |
2010 |
5 |
-3.54% |
601.69 |
2010 |
6 |
-0.16% |
600.73 |
2010 |
7 |
0.86% |
605.92 |
2010 |
8 |
3.37% |
626.34 |
2010 |
9 |
4.58% |
655.01 |
2010 |
10 |
2.49% |
671.33 |
2010 |
11 |
3.71% |
696.26 |
2010 |
12 |
3.46% |
720.37 |
2011 |
1 |
3.15% |
743.06 |
2011 |
2 |
-1.11% |
734.80 |
2011 |
3 |
2.22% |
751.12 |
2011 |
4 |
0.66% |
756.07 |
2011 |
5 |
-3.66% |
728.38 |
2011 |
6 |
3.10% |
750.97 |
2011 |
7 |
-10.40% |
672.86 |
2011 |
8 |
-0.79% |
667.55 |
2011 |
9 |
3.02% |
687.71 |
2011 |
10 |
1.77% |
699.86 |
2011 |
11 |
1.55% |
710.74 |
2011 |
12 |
4.78% |
744.73 |
2012 |
1 |
4.16% |
775.73 |
2012 |
2 |
2.88% |
798.10 |
2012 |
3 |
-0.04% |
797.80 |
2012 |
4 |
-3.09% |
773.14 |
2012 |
5 |
-1.15% |
764.23 |
2012 |
6 |
2.92% |
786.55 |
2012 |
7 |
3.39% |
813.20 |
2012 |
8 |
3.02% |
837.77 |
2012 |
9 |
-0.22% |
835.95 |
2012 |
10 |
-2.84% |
812.23 |
2012 |
11 |
2.18% |
829.90 |
2012 |
12 |
4.27% |
865.32 |
2013 |
1 |
2.33% |
885.51 |
2013 |
2 |
2.72% |
909.62 |
2013 |
3 |
1.45% |
922.84 |
2013 |
4 |
4.57% |
965.06 |
2013 |
5 |
-1.12% |
954.27 |
2013 |
6 |
3.25% |
985.33 |
2013 |
7 |
0.25% |
987.81 |
2013 |
8 |
1.19% |
999.59 |
2013 |
9 |
2.12% |
1,020.76 |
2013 |
10 |
3.86% |
1,060.16 |
2013 |
11 |
1.52% |
1,076.29 |
2013 |
12 |
0.97% |
1,086.71 |
2014 |
1 |
-0.13% |
1,085.30 |
2014 |
2 |
2.72% |
1,114.84 |
2014 |
3 |
0.20% |
1,117.09 |
2014 |
4 |
1.53% |
1,134.21 |
2014 |
5 |
3.20% |
1,170.46 |
2014 |
6 |
1.50% |
1,187.97 |
2014 |
7 |
-0.43% |
1,182.89 |
2014 |
8 |
1.78% |
1,203.93 |
2014 |
9 |
-2.65% |
1,172.06 |
2014 |
10 |
5.71% |
1,238.94 |
2014 |
11 |
0.63% |
1,246.79 |
2014 |
12 |
-1.11% |
1,232.95 |
2015 |
1 |
2.83% |
1,267.81 |
2015 |
2 |
0.06% |
1,268.51 |
2015 |
3 |
0.88% |
1,279.66 |
2015 |
4 |
0.98% |
1,292.18 |
2015 |
5 |
-0.44% |
1,286.56 |
2015 |
6 |
-0.08% |
1,285.53 |
2015 |
7 |
-2.42% |
1,254.36 |
2015 |
8 |
-4.51% |
1,197.83 |
2015 |
9 |
4.32% |
1,249.54 |
2015 |
10 |
2.93% |
1,286.18 |
2015 |
11 |
-1.10% |
1,272.00 |
2015 |
12 |
-6.42% |
1,190.34 |
2016 |
1 |
-0.55% |
1,183.79 |
2016 |
2 |
6.36% |
1,259.12 |
2016 |
3 |
2.83% |
1,294.76 |
2016 |
4 |
-0.30% |
1,290.82 |
2016 |
5 |
1.07% |
1,304.59 |
2016 |
6 |
3.30% |
1,347.61 |
2016 |
7 |
1.20% |
1,363.77 |
2016 |
8 |
-0.44% |
1,357.79 |
2016 |
9 |
-0.51% |
1,350.92 |
2016 |
10 |
1.20% |
1,367.14 |
2016 |
11 |
3.95% |
1,421.09 |
2016 |
12 |
1.44% |
1,441.52 |
2017 |
1 |
2.58% |
1,478.66 |
2017 |
2 |
1.75% |
1,504.53 |
2017 |
3 |
-0.15% |
1,502.21 |
2017 |
4 |
1.69% |
1,527.63 |
2017 |
5 |
1.78% |
1,554.77 |
2017 |
6 |
0.99% |
1,570.13 |
2017 |
7 |
0.25% |
1,574.02 |
2017 |
8 |
1.65% |
1,600.04 |
2017 |
9 |
2.73% |
1,643.80 |
2017 |
10 |
1.59% |
1,669.93 |
2017 |
11 |
2.88% |
1,718.08 |
2017 |
12 |
4.86% |
1,801.61 |
2018 |
1 |
-2.89% |
1,749.61 |
2018 |
2 |
0.06% |
1,750.74 |
2018 |
3 |
-1.66% |
1,721.60 |
2018 |
4 |
1.96% |
1,755.38 |
2018 |
5 |
2.11% |
1,792.47 |
2018 |
6 |
1.58% |
1,820.80 |
2018 |
7 |
2.45% |
1,865.42 |
2018 |
8 |
1.68% |
1,896.76 |
2018 |
9 |
-3.85% |
1,823.75 |
2018 |
10 |
-2.08% |
1,785.89 |
2018 |
11 |
-5.56% |
1,686.55 |
2018 |
12 |
1.74% |
1,715.82 |
2019 |
1 |
5.83% |
1,815.84 |
2019 |
2 |
1.95% |
1,851.21 |
2019 |
3 |
3.72% |
1,920.13 |
2019 |
4 |
-1.53% |
1,890.72 |
2019 |
5 |
1.40% |
1,917.28 |
2019 |
6 |
3.83% |
1,990.66 |
2019 |
7 |
-3.13% |
1,928.27 |
2019 |
8 |
3.09% |
1,987.76 |
2019 |
9 |
0.01% |
1,987.95 |
2019 |
10 |
4.43% |
2,076.09 |
2019 |
11 |
2.47% |
2,127.36 |
2019 |
12 |
3.35% |
2,198.55 |
2020 |
1 |
0.12% |
2,201.23 |
2020 |
2 |
-18.92% |
1,784.81 |
2020 |
3 |
4.32% |
1,861.89 |
2020 |
4 |
5.89% |
1,971.50 |
2020 |
5 |
6.51% |
2,099.81 |
2020 |
6 |
3.48% |
2,172.81 |
2020 |
7 |
5.89% |
2,300.87 |
2020 |
8 |
-0.63% |
2,286.44 |
2020 |
9 |
1.73% |
2,325.90 |
2020 |
10 |
3.95% |
2,417.87 |
2020 |
11 |
4.26% |
2,520.88 |
2020 |
12 |
2.80% |
2,591.34 |
Click to show 378 more rows
The information on this page is derived from Robert Shiller's book, Irrational Exuberance and the accompanying dataset, as well as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' monthly CPI logs.
Note that S&P index value for the current quarter is based on a moving average of closing prices, per Robert Shiller's methodology. The inflation data used is based on annual CPI averages.