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Russell 2000

Index
Market proxy IWM$295.961D +0.26%

Russell 2000 drawdown: 3.0% below the all-time high

Russell 2000 is 3.0% below its all-time high, set Aug 14, 2026 (as of market close, Sep 4, 2026). 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
−3.0%
97.0% of ATH
All-time high
$305.09
Aug 14, 2026
Time below the high
21 days
since Aug 14, 2026
Worst-ever drawdown
−59.5%
Mar 9, 2009
Longest underwater
3.9 yrs
between all-time highs
Today's level first reached
Jun 22, 2026
2 mo ago
Last time this deep
Jul 31, 2026
in a previous episode

% of all-time high since 2000#

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.

Basis
Range
All-time high = 100%40%60%80%
IWM close · log50.00100200
20052010201520202025

The deepest drawdowns on record#

Every decline of 15% or more from an all-time high (price basis), deepest first.

PeakTroughDepthPeak → troughRecovered byUnderwater
Jul 13, 2007Mar 9, 2009−59.5%1.7 yrsApr 5, 20113.7 yrs
Aug 31, 2018Mar 23, 2020−42.3%1.6 yrsNov 13, 20202.2 yrs
Jul 17, 2000Oct 9, 2002−40.3%2.2 yrsNov 28, 20033.4 yrs
Nov 8, 2021Oct 27, 2023−33.1%2.0 yrsSep 18, 20253.9 yrs
Apr 29, 2011Oct 3, 2011−29.4%5 moSep 14, 201217 mo
Jun 23, 2015Feb 11, 2016−26.5%8 moNov 14, 201617 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.

Drawdown vs what came next#

One dot per month since 2000: how far Russell 2000 stood below its all-time high, and the total return over the following 1, 5 and 10 years.

1950–19992000–today

Read this with survivorship bias in mind: a single asset's history is one surviving sample, so past recoveries here say little about the odds ahead. Monthly windows also overlap heavily (they are not independent samples). Not investment advice.

FAQ#

How far is Russell 2000 from its all-time high?
Russell 2000 is currently 3.0% below its all-time high, set Aug 14, 2026 (as of market close, Sep 4, 2026). Prices only, the convention headlines use; with dividends reinvested the gap is usually smaller.
What was the biggest Russell 2000 drawdown ever?
The deepest decline on record in our data (since 2000) took Russell 2000 59.5% below its prior high, bottoming Mar 9, 2009. The table on this page lists every major episode with its peak, trough and recovery date.

Methodology & related#

Daily data since 2000 from IWM, Russell 2000's tracking fund; no free deep history exists for Russell 2000 — 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. See also returns by year. Past performance does not predict future returns; not investment advice.

More on Russell 2000

Returns by year
+20.7%
YTD · every year since 2001
YTD return
+20.7%
daily path + historical rank
Monthly returns
+0.7%
Sep 2026 · month by month
Weekly returns
+0.1%
week ending Sep 4, 2026
Trailing returns
+26.4%
1Y · 3Y · 5Y · 10Y, annualized