Every Major Dow Jones Drawdown Since 1985
| Event | Start | End | Depth | Duration | Recovery | Severity Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Monday | Aug 1987 | Oct 1987 | -36.1% | ~55 days | ~22 months | 9.5 |
| Early 1990s Recession | Jul 1990 | Oct 1990 | -21.2% | ~87 days | ~4 months | ~5.8 |
| Oct 1997 Mini-Crash (Asian Crisis) | Aug 1997 | Oct 1997 | ~-11.5% | ~20 days | ~2 months | ~3.0 |
| LTCM / Russian Crisis | Jul 1998 | Aug 1998 | -19.3% | ~45 days | ~2 months | ~5.3 |
| Dot-Com Crash | Jan 2000 | Oct 2002 | -37.8% | ~999 days | ~4 years | 9.0 |
| Great Financial Crisis | Oct 2007 | Mar 2009 | -53.8% | ~518 days | ~4 years | 12.0+ |
| 2010 Flash Crash / Euro Scare* | Apr 2010 | Jul 2010 | ~-13.6% | ~70 days | ~4 months | ~3.7 |
| 2011 EU Debt Crisis* | Apr 2011 | Oct 2011 | ~-16.8% | ~157 days | ~5 months | ~4.5 |
| 2015-2016 Selloff | May 2015 | Feb 2016 | ~-14.5% | ~268 days | ~5 months | ~4.0 |
| Feb 2018 Volmageddon | Jan 2018 | Feb 2018 | ~-10.4% | 13 days | ~7 months | ~3.0 |
| Late 2018 Selloff | Oct 2018 | Dec 2018 | -18.8% | ~82 days | ~7 months | ~5.2 |
| COVID Crash | Feb 2020 | Mar 2020 | -37.1% | ~40 days | ~8 months | 10.0 |
| 2022 Bear Market | Jan 2022 | Sep 2022 | -22.2% | ~270 days | ~15 months | 6.8 |
| 2023 Rate-Spike Pullback* | Aug 2023 | Oct 2023 | ~-9.1% | ~85 days | ~2 months | ~2.5 |
| 2025 Tariff Selloff | Dec 2024 | Apr 2025 | ~-15.7% | ~124 days | ~4 months | ~4.3 |
Conventions: Depth is the peak-to-trough decline on closing prices of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Duration is the approximate number of calendar days from the peak to the trough. Recovery is measured from the trough until the index closed above the prior peak again (not from the peak). Values marked "~" are approximations compiled from public Dow Jones price-index records, since precise daily closing data for the index's earlier history and smaller declines is less consistently available than for its best-documented crashes.
* The 2010 and 2011 declines began from post-crisis recovery highs rather than all-time highs; depth is measured from that interim peak. Black Monday, the dot-com crash, the Great Financial Crisis, the late-2018 selloff, the COVID crash, the 2022 bear market, and the 2025 tariff selloff figures are based on widely-reported closing index levels; other rows are rounded estimates. Severity scores are retroactive estimates using DrawdownAlerts' methodology and are not directly comparable across eras or assets, because each asset's historical baseline evolves over time.
Key Observations
- -The Great Financial Crisis was the defining Dow drawdown, a 53.8% peak-to-trough decline that took about 4 years from the March 2009 trough to a new all-time closing high in March 2013.
- -The Dow has crossed the 20% bear-market threshold less often than the Nasdaq or S&P 500, a reflection of its composition of 30 large, established blue-chip companies, which tend to be less volatile than higher-beta growth and technology stocks.
- -The dot-com crash hit the Dow far less hard than the Nasdaq: a 37.8% decline for the Dow versus nearly 80% for the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite over roughly the same window, underscoring how index composition changes the impact of a sector-driven crash.
- -Recent drawdowns have generally recovered faster than the two defining crises: the 2025 tariff selloff and the Early 1990s Recession each took only a few months from trough to new high, versus roughly 4-year recoveries for the dot-com crash and the Great Financial Crisis.
How to Read This Table
Event: The commonly used name for the drawdown or the economic/market event that triggered it.
Start: The approximate month the Dow Jones Industrial Average began declining from its prior peak (an all-time high for most events; a post-crisis recovery high for the rows marked *).
End: The approximate month the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached the trough (lowest point) of the drawdown.
Depth: The maximum percentage decline from the peak to the trough. A depth of -53.8% means the index lost more than half of its value.
Duration: The approximate number of calendar days from the start of the decline to the trough.
Recovery: The time from the trough until the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the prior peak again. Note this is measured from the trough, not from the peak; measured from the peak, recoveries take the duration plus this figure.
Severity Score: An estimated Drawdown Severity Score based on DrawdownAlerts' methodology, which considers both depth and duration relative to historical norms. Higher scores indicate more extreme, statistically rare drawdowns.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the worst Dow Jones drawdown since 1985?
The worst Dow Jones drawdown since 1985 was the Great Financial Crisis of 2007-2009, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 53.8% from its October 9, 2007 closing peak of 14,164.53 to its March 9, 2009 trough of 6,547.05. Measured from the trough, the index took roughly 4 years to close at a new all-time high in March 2013. The dot-com crash of 2000-2002 was the second-worst by depth, with a 37.8% decline, though it was far more muted for the Dow than for the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which fell nearly 80% over roughly the same period.
How often does the Dow have a 20% drawdown?
Since 1985, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has experienced drawdowns of 20% or greater roughly six times: Black Monday (1987, -36.1%), the Early 1990s Recession (1990, -21.2%), the dot-com crash (2000-2002, -37.8%), the Great Financial Crisis (2007-2009, -53.8%), the COVID crash (2020, -37.1%), and the 2022 bear market (-22.2%). This is fewer than the Nasdaq or S&P 500, reflecting the index's composition of large, established blue-chip companies.
How long does it take the Dow to recover from a drawdown?
Recovery time varies dramatically with the depth of the drawdown. The Great Financial Crisis took about 4 years from the March 2009 trough to a new closing high in March 2013, and the dot-com crash took a similar roughly 4 years from its October 2002 trough to a new closing high in October 2006. By contrast, the Early 1990s Recession recovered in about 4 months despite a 21.2% decline, and the 2025 tariff selloff also recovered within a few months, among the fastest rebounds in this dataset. View the current Dow (DIA) drawdown status.
Data based on Dow Jones Industrial Average daily closing prices. Drawdown Severity Scores are estimated using DrawdownAlerts' methodology. Dates are approximate.
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