Dow Jones drawdown: 2.8% below the all-time high (price)
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is 2.8% below its all-time high, set Aug 5, 2026 (as of market close, Oct 21, 2026), measured on price alone — dividends are not included, the convention headlines and crash histories use. The chart shows every day as a percentage of the highest level reached up to that point: 100% means a fresh record, everything below is a drawdown.
- Below all-time high
- −2.8%
- 97.2% of ATH
- All-time high
- $542.81
- Aug 5, 2026
- Time below the high
- 3 mo
- since Aug 5, 2026
- Worst-ever drawdown
- −53.8%
- Mar 9, 2009
- Longest underwater
- 6.7 yrs
- between all-time highs
- Today's level first reached
- Jul 2, 2026
- 4 mo ago
- Last time this deep
- Jun 10, 2026
- in a previous episode
% of all-time high since 1998: price#
The classic underwater chart (drawdown curve), drawn as % of the all-time high — 100% is a fresh record, everything below it is time spent underwater. Basis and range are in the URL, so a particular view is a link.
The deepest drawdowns on record#
Every decline of 15% or more from an all-time high (price basis), deepest first.
| Peak | Trough | Depth | Peak → trough | Recovered by | Underwater |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 9, 2007 | Mar 9, 2009 | −53.8% | 17 mo | Mar 5, 2013 | 5.4 yrs |
| Jan 14, 2000 | Oct 9, 2002 | −37.8% | 2.7 yrs | Oct 4, 2006 | 6.7 yrs |
| Feb 12, 2020 | Mar 23, 2020 | −37.1% | 40 days | Nov 16, 2020 | 9 mo |
| Jan 4, 2022 | Sep 30, 2022 | −21.9% | 9 mo | Dec 13, 2023 | 1.9 yrs |
| Jul 17, 1998 | Aug 31, 1998 | −19.8% | 45 days | Nov 23, 1998 | 4 mo |
| Oct 3, 2018 | Dec 24, 2018 | −18.6% | 3 mo | Jun 20, 2019 | 9 mo |
| Dec 4, 2024 | Apr 8, 2025 | −16.5% | 4 mo | Aug 22, 2025 | 9 mo |
Price basis (no dividends) — the convention crash histories use. With dividends reinvested, recoveries arrive years earlier; switch the basis on the chart above to see it.
What happened next: forward returns by drawdown depth#
For every month since 1998, how far the index stood below its all-time high — and the total return (dividends reinvested) over the following 1, 5 and 10 years.
| Starting point | Months | Median next 1y | Median next 5y | Median next 10y | 5y windows positive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| At/near the high (0–1% off) | 135 | +11.3% | +10.2%/yr | +9.1%/yr | 98% |
| 1–10% off the high | 142 | +8.5% | +5.6%/yr | +7.8%/yr | 94% |
| 10–20% off | 37 | +10.4% | +8.2%/yr | +7.5%/yr | 100% |
| 20–30% off | 21 | +19.6% | +13.1%/yr | +12.0%/yr | 100% |
| 30–50% off | 11 | +22.3% | +17.1%/yr | +13.9%/yr | 100% |
Every month as one dot
Read this honestly: monthly windows overlap heavily (they are not independent samples), and the deep-drawdown buckets are dominated by a handful of episodes — history rhymes, it doesn't promise. This pattern is specific to a broad, survivorship-free index; individual stocks deep below their highs frequently never recover. Not investment advice.
FAQ#
- How far is the Dow Jones Industrial Average from its all-time high?
- Dow Jones is currently 2.8% below its all-time high, set Aug 5, 2026 (as of market close, Oct 21, 2026). Prices only, the convention headlines use; with dividends reinvested the gap is usually smaller.
- What was the biggest Dow drawdown ever?
- The deepest decline on record in our data (since 1998) took the index 53.8% below its prior high, bottoming Mar 9, 2009. The table on this page lists every major episode with its peak, trough and recovery date.
- Are big drawdowns good times to buy?
- Historically, deeper drawdowns have been followed by somewhat higher median long-run returns for broad indexes — but the sample of deep crashes is small, the windows overlap, and an index can keep falling long after any threshold. This holds for diversified indexes (which have always eventually recovered), not for individual stocks, which can stay down permanently. Nothing here is investment advice.
Methodology & related#
Daily data since 1998 from DIA, the Dow Jones Industrial Average's tracking fund; no free deep history exists for the Dow Jones Industrial Average — for a 150-year drawdown record see the S&P 500 drawdown page. The price basis excludes dividends; the total-return basis reinvests them; the real basis additionally deflates by CPI. Forward-return analysis uses the total-return series. See also returns by year. Past performance does not predict future returns; not investment advice.
More on Dow Jones
- Companies & weights30
- Stock performance30
- Return calculator$1,616
- P/E ratio25.7
- Dividend yield1.50%
- Buyback yield1.23%
- Shareholder yield1.94%
- Earnings$1.17T
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