Stock market returns between 2001 and 2021
If you invested $10000 in the S&P 500 at the beginning of 2001, you would have about $50,913.05 at the end of 2021, assuming you reinvested all dividends. This is a return on investment of 409.13%, or 8.06% per year.
This investment result beats inflation during this period for an inflation-adjusted return of about 232.76% cumulatively, or 5.89% per year.
The graph below shows the performance of $10000 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 $10000 is $40,913.05, or 409.13%. This means by 2021 you would have $50,913.05 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 2001 was 177.100 and the CPI in 2021 was 270.970.
The ratio between these CPIs describes how relative buying power of a dollar has changed over 20 years.
Adjusted for inflation, the $50,913.05 nominal end value of the original $10000 investment would have a real value of roughly $23,275.62 in 2001 dollars. This means the inflation-adjusted return is 232.76% as opposed to the original 409.13%.
For more information on inflation, see our U.S. inflation calculator for 2001.
Full monthly data
The table below shows the full dataset pertaining to a $10000 investment, including gains and losses over the 252-month period between 2001 and 2021.
Note that data shown is the monthly average closing price. Returns include dividends.
Year |
Month |
Return (%) |
Amount ($) |
CPI |
2001 |
1 |
-2.14% |
9,786.37 |
175.10 |
2001 |
2 |
-9.08% |
8,897.78 |
175.80 |
2001 |
3 |
0.45% |
8,937.70 |
176.20 |
2001 |
4 |
6.88% |
9,552.56 |
176.90 |
2001 |
5 |
-2.39% |
9,324.38 |
177.70 |
2001 |
6 |
-2.66% |
9,076.33 |
178.00 |
2001 |
7 |
-2.05% |
8,890.64 |
177.50 |
2001 |
8 |
-11.25% |
7,890.69 |
177.50 |
2001 |
9 |
3.18% |
8,141.93 |
178.30 |
2001 |
10 |
5.05% |
8,553.35 |
177.70 |
2001 |
11 |
1.47% |
8,678.75 |
177.40 |
2001 |
12 |
-0.30% |
8,652.91 |
176.70 |
2002 |
1 |
-3.35% |
8,362.80 |
177.10 |
2002 |
2 |
4.95% |
8,776.36 |
177.80 |
2002 |
3 |
-3.51% |
8,467.92 |
178.80 |
2002 |
4 |
-2.82% |
8,229.10 |
179.80 |
2002 |
5 |
-5.92% |
7,741.85 |
179.80 |
2002 |
6 |
-10.76% |
6,908.95 |
179.90 |
2002 |
7 |
1.14% |
6,987.63 |
180.10 |
2002 |
8 |
-4.76% |
6,655.17 |
180.70 |
2002 |
9 |
-1.37% |
6,564.19 |
181.00 |
2002 |
10 |
6.63% |
6,999.11 |
181.30 |
2002 |
11 |
-1.04% |
6,926.66 |
181.30 |
2002 |
12 |
-0.22% |
6,911.25 |
180.90 |
2003 |
1 |
-6.41% |
6,467.91 |
181.70 |
2003 |
2 |
1.31% |
6,552.50 |
183.10 |
2003 |
3 |
5.29% |
6,898.86 |
184.20 |
2003 |
4 |
5.31% |
7,265.34 |
183.80 |
2003 |
5 |
5.70% |
7,679.77 |
183.50 |
2003 |
6 |
0.60% |
7,725.53 |
183.70 |
2003 |
7 |
-0.17% |
7,712.68 |
183.90 |
2003 |
8 |
3.16% |
7,956.49 |
184.60 |
2003 |
9 |
2.03% |
8,117.84 |
185.20 |
2003 |
10 |
1.21% |
8,216.11 |
185.00 |
2003 |
11 |
3.06% |
8,467.84 |
184.50 |
2003 |
12 |
4.93% |
8,885.72 |
184.30 |
2004 |
1 |
1.09% |
8,982.28 |
185.20 |
2004 |
2 |
-1.57% |
8,841.69 |
186.20 |
2004 |
3 |
0.97% |
8,927.29 |
187.40 |
2004 |
4 |
-2.56% |
8,698.37 |
188.00 |
2004 |
5 |
2.86% |
8,946.94 |
189.10 |
2004 |
6 |
-2.24% |
8,746.64 |
189.70 |
2004 |
7 |
-1.39% |
8,625.27 |
189.40 |
2004 |
8 |
2.78% |
8,865.28 |
189.50 |
2004 |
9 |
0.10% |
8,874.38 |
189.90 |
2004 |
10 |
4.77% |
9,298.03 |
190.90 |
2004 |
11 |
2.73% |
9,551.63 |
191.00 |
2004 |
12 |
-1.35% |
9,422.76 |
190.30 |
2005 |
1 |
1.68% |
9,581.17 |
190.70 |
2005 |
2 |
-0.26% |
9,556.68 |
191.80 |
2005 |
3 |
-2.41% |
9,326.47 |
193.30 |
2005 |
4 |
1.34% |
9,451.06 |
194.60 |
2005 |
5 |
2.18% |
9,657.16 |
194.40 |
2005 |
6 |
1.81% |
9,831.74 |
194.50 |
2005 |
7 |
0.31% |
9,862.22 |
195.40 |
2005 |
8 |
0.28% |
9,889.80 |
196.40 |
2005 |
9 |
-2.62% |
9,630.27 |
198.80 |
2005 |
10 |
3.96% |
10,011.78 |
199.20 |
2005 |
11 |
2.14% |
10,226.45 |
197.60 |
2005 |
12 |
1.47% |
10,376.45 |
196.80 |
2006 |
1 |
-0.02% |
10,374.72 |
198.30 |
2006 |
2 |
1.49% |
10,528.90 |
198.70 |
2006 |
3 |
0.80% |
10,612.96 |
199.80 |
2006 |
4 |
-0.79% |
10,529.47 |
201.50 |
2006 |
5 |
-2.71% |
10,244.57 |
202.50 |
2006 |
6 |
0.72% |
10,318.33 |
202.90 |
2006 |
7 |
2.29% |
10,554.80 |
203.50 |
2006 |
8 |
2.53% |
10,821.96 |
203.90 |
2006 |
9 |
3.62% |
11,213.28 |
202.90 |
2006 |
10 |
2.00% |
11,437.73 |
201.80 |
2006 |
11 |
2.15% |
11,683.44 |
201.50 |
2006 |
12 |
0.69% |
11,764.38 |
201.80 |
2007 |
1 |
1.60% |
11,952.15 |
202.42 |
2007 |
2 |
-2.47% |
11,656.47 |
203.50 |
2007 |
3 |
4.18% |
12,143.74 |
205.35 |
2007 |
4 |
3.39% |
12,555.62 |
206.69 |
2007 |
5 |
0.34% |
12,598.93 |
207.95 |
2007 |
6 |
0.57% |
12,671.32 |
208.35 |
2007 |
7 |
-4.20% |
12,138.99 |
208.30 |
2007 |
8 |
3.07% |
12,512.23 |
207.92 |
2007 |
9 |
2.99% |
12,886.55 |
208.49 |
2007 |
10 |
-4.81% |
12,267.18 |
208.94 |
2007 |
11 |
1.24% |
12,419.08 |
210.18 |
2007 |
12 |
-6.64% |
11,595.05 |
210.04 |
2008 |
1 |
-1.56% |
11,413.70 |
211.08 |
2008 |
2 |
-2.63% |
11,113.91 |
211.69 |
2008 |
3 |
4.24% |
11,585.56 |
213.53 |
2008 |
4 |
2.56% |
11,882.45 |
214.82 |
2008 |
5 |
-4.25% |
11,377.85 |
216.63 |
2008 |
6 |
-6.08% |
10,686.25 |
218.82 |
2008 |
7 |
2.11% |
10,911.79 |
219.96 |
2008 |
8 |
-4.85% |
10,382.84 |
219.09 |
2008 |
9 |
-20.19% |
8,286.17 |
218.78 |
2008 |
10 |
-8.61% |
7,573.12 |
216.57 |
2008 |
11 |
-0.35% |
7,546.52 |
212.43 |
2008 |
12 |
-1.10% |
7,463.84 |
210.23 |
2009 |
1 |
-6.70% |
6,963.58 |
211.14 |
2009 |
2 |
-5.69% |
6,567.53 |
212.19 |
2009 |
3 |
12.32% |
7,376.76 |
212.71 |
2009 |
4 |
6.66% |
7,868.04 |
213.24 |
2009 |
5 |
2.87% |
8,093.77 |
213.86 |
2009 |
6 |
1.28% |
8,197.18 |
215.69 |
2009 |
7 |
8.12% |
8,862.85 |
215.35 |
2009 |
8 |
3.65% |
9,186.37 |
215.83 |
2009 |
9 |
2.40% |
9,407.13 |
215.97 |
2009 |
10 |
2.09% |
9,604.15 |
216.18 |
2009 |
11 |
2.23% |
9,817.92 |
216.33 |
2009 |
12 |
1.36% |
9,951.15 |
215.95 |
2010 |
1 |
-2.90% |
9,662.72 |
216.69 |
2010 |
2 |
5.94% |
10,236.97 |
216.74 |
2010 |
3 |
4.09% |
10,655.45 |
217.63 |
2010 |
4 |
-5.88% |
10,028.66 |
218.01 |
2010 |
5 |
-3.54% |
9,673.29 |
218.18 |
2010 |
6 |
-0.16% |
9,657.90 |
217.97 |
2010 |
7 |
0.86% |
9,741.31 |
218.01 |
2010 |
8 |
3.37% |
10,069.70 |
218.31 |
2010 |
9 |
4.58% |
10,530.63 |
218.44 |
2010 |
10 |
2.49% |
10,792.94 |
218.71 |
2010 |
11 |
3.71% |
11,193.77 |
218.80 |
2010 |
12 |
3.46% |
11,581.31 |
219.18 |
2011 |
1 |
3.15% |
11,946.23 |
220.22 |
2011 |
2 |
-1.11% |
11,813.33 |
221.31 |
2011 |
3 |
2.22% |
12,075.70 |
223.47 |
2011 |
4 |
0.66% |
12,155.31 |
224.91 |
2011 |
5 |
-3.66% |
11,710.11 |
225.96 |
2011 |
6 |
3.10% |
12,073.32 |
225.72 |
2011 |
7 |
-10.40% |
10,817.62 |
225.92 |
2011 |
8 |
-0.79% |
10,732.24 |
226.55 |
2011 |
9 |
3.02% |
11,056.24 |
226.89 |
2011 |
10 |
1.77% |
11,251.62 |
226.42 |
2011 |
11 |
1.55% |
11,426.55 |
226.23 |
2011 |
12 |
4.78% |
11,973.03 |
225.67 |
2012 |
1 |
4.16% |
12,471.42 |
226.67 |
2012 |
2 |
2.88% |
12,831.08 |
227.66 |
2012 |
3 |
-0.04% |
12,826.18 |
229.39 |
2012 |
4 |
-3.09% |
12,429.73 |
230.09 |
2012 |
5 |
-1.15% |
12,286.48 |
229.82 |
2012 |
6 |
2.92% |
12,645.38 |
229.48 |
2012 |
7 |
3.39% |
13,073.77 |
229.10 |
2012 |
8 |
3.02% |
13,468.75 |
230.38 |
2012 |
9 |
-0.22% |
13,439.51 |
231.41 |
2012 |
10 |
-2.84% |
13,058.16 |
231.32 |
2012 |
11 |
2.18% |
13,342.25 |
230.22 |
2012 |
12 |
4.27% |
13,911.79 |
229.60 |
2013 |
1 |
2.33% |
14,236.36 |
230.28 |
2013 |
2 |
2.72% |
14,623.94 |
232.17 |
2013 |
3 |
1.45% |
14,836.54 |
232.77 |
2013 |
4 |
4.57% |
15,515.20 |
232.53 |
2013 |
5 |
-1.12% |
15,341.78 |
232.95 |
2013 |
6 |
3.25% |
15,841.07 |
233.50 |
2013 |
7 |
0.25% |
15,881.07 |
233.60 |
2013 |
8 |
1.19% |
16,070.45 |
233.88 |
2013 |
9 |
2.12% |
16,410.75 |
234.15 |
2013 |
10 |
3.86% |
17,044.21 |
233.55 |
2013 |
11 |
1.52% |
17,303.56 |
233.07 |
2013 |
12 |
0.97% |
17,471.03 |
233.05 |
2014 |
1 |
-0.13% |
17,448.31 |
233.92 |
2014 |
2 |
2.72% |
17,923.30 |
234.78 |
2014 |
3 |
0.20% |
17,959.45 |
236.29 |
2014 |
4 |
1.53% |
18,234.60 |
237.07 |
2014 |
5 |
3.20% |
18,817.43 |
237.90 |
2014 |
6 |
1.50% |
19,098.91 |
238.34 |
2014 |
7 |
-0.43% |
19,017.37 |
238.25 |
2014 |
8 |
1.78% |
19,355.50 |
237.85 |
2014 |
9 |
-2.65% |
18,843.24 |
238.03 |
2014 |
10 |
5.71% |
19,918.37 |
237.43 |
2014 |
11 |
0.63% |
20,044.63 |
236.15 |
2014 |
12 |
-1.11% |
19,822.13 |
234.81 |
2015 |
1 |
2.83% |
20,382.58 |
233.71 |
2015 |
2 |
0.06% |
20,393.86 |
234.72 |
2015 |
3 |
0.88% |
20,573.00 |
236.12 |
2015 |
4 |
0.98% |
20,774.39 |
236.60 |
2015 |
5 |
-0.44% |
20,683.92 |
237.81 |
2015 |
6 |
-0.08% |
20,667.45 |
238.64 |
2015 |
7 |
-2.42% |
20,166.39 |
238.65 |
2015 |
8 |
-4.51% |
19,257.47 |
238.32 |
2015 |
9 |
4.32% |
20,088.84 |
237.95 |
2015 |
10 |
2.93% |
20,677.94 |
237.84 |
2015 |
11 |
-1.10% |
20,449.87 |
237.34 |
2015 |
12 |
-6.42% |
19,137.06 |
236.53 |
2016 |
1 |
-0.55% |
19,031.83 |
236.92 |
2016 |
2 |
6.36% |
20,242.77 |
237.11 |
2016 |
3 |
2.83% |
20,815.89 |
238.13 |
2016 |
4 |
-0.30% |
20,752.54 |
239.26 |
2016 |
5 |
1.07% |
20,973.86 |
240.23 |
2016 |
6 |
3.30% |
21,665.46 |
241.02 |
2016 |
7 |
1.20% |
21,925.29 |
240.63 |
2016 |
8 |
-0.44% |
21,829.11 |
240.85 |
2016 |
9 |
-0.51% |
21,718.66 |
241.43 |
2016 |
10 |
1.20% |
21,979.53 |
241.73 |
2016 |
11 |
3.95% |
22,846.84 |
241.35 |
2016 |
12 |
1.44% |
23,175.29 |
241.43 |
2017 |
1 |
2.58% |
23,772.39 |
242.84 |
2017 |
2 |
1.75% |
24,188.23 |
243.60 |
2017 |
3 |
-0.15% |
24,150.98 |
243.80 |
2017 |
4 |
1.69% |
24,559.70 |
244.52 |
2017 |
5 |
1.78% |
24,995.99 |
244.73 |
2017 |
6 |
0.99% |
25,242.92 |
244.96 |
2017 |
7 |
0.25% |
25,305.47 |
244.79 |
2017 |
8 |
1.65% |
25,723.84 |
245.52 |
2017 |
9 |
2.73% |
26,427.33 |
246.82 |
2017 |
10 |
1.59% |
26,847.41 |
246.66 |
2017 |
11 |
2.88% |
27,621.56 |
246.67 |
2017 |
12 |
4.86% |
28,964.49 |
246.52 |
2018 |
1 |
-2.89% |
28,128.37 |
247.87 |
2018 |
2 |
0.06% |
28,146.54 |
248.99 |
2018 |
3 |
-1.66% |
27,678.19 |
249.55 |
2018 |
4 |
1.96% |
28,221.13 |
250.55 |
2018 |
5 |
2.11% |
28,817.43 |
251.59 |
2018 |
6 |
1.58% |
29,272.96 |
251.99 |
2018 |
7 |
2.45% |
29,990.39 |
252.01 |
2018 |
8 |
1.68% |
30,494.15 |
252.15 |
2018 |
9 |
-3.85% |
29,320.43 |
252.44 |
2018 |
10 |
-2.08% |
28,711.71 |
252.89 |
2018 |
11 |
-5.56% |
27,114.62 |
252.04 |
2018 |
12 |
1.74% |
27,585.23 |
251.23 |
2019 |
1 |
5.83% |
29,193.14 |
251.71 |
2019 |
2 |
1.95% |
29,761.83 |
252.78 |
2019 |
3 |
3.72% |
30,869.93 |
254.20 |
2019 |
4 |
-1.53% |
30,397.07 |
255.55 |
2019 |
5 |
1.40% |
30,824.07 |
256.09 |
2019 |
6 |
3.83% |
32,003.82 |
256.14 |
2019 |
7 |
-3.13% |
31,000.68 |
256.57 |
2019 |
8 |
3.09% |
31,957.12 |
256.56 |
2019 |
9 |
0.01% |
31,960.26 |
256.76 |
2019 |
10 |
4.43% |
33,377.28 |
257.35 |
2019 |
11 |
2.47% |
34,201.47 |
257.21 |
2019 |
12 |
3.35% |
35,345.99 |
256.97 |
2020 |
1 |
0.12% |
35,389.14 |
257.97 |
2020 |
2 |
-18.92% |
28,694.32 |
258.68 |
2020 |
3 |
4.32% |
29,933.52 |
258.12 |
2020 |
4 |
5.89% |
31,695.81 |
256.39 |
2020 |
5 |
6.51% |
33,758.66 |
256.39 |
2020 |
6 |
3.48% |
34,932.26 |
257.80 |
2020 |
7 |
5.89% |
36,991.00 |
259.10 |
2020 |
8 |
-0.63% |
36,759.06 |
259.92 |
2020 |
9 |
1.73% |
37,393.52 |
260.28 |
2020 |
10 |
3.95% |
38,872.11 |
260.39 |
2020 |
11 |
4.26% |
40,528.09 |
260.23 |
2020 |
12 |
2.80% |
41,660.97 |
260.47 |
2021 |
1 |
2.49% |
42,698.97 |
261.58 |
2021 |
2 |
0.82% |
43,049.68 |
263.01 |
2021 |
3 |
6.02% |
45,641.91 |
264.88 |
2021 |
4 |
0.76% |
45,988.89 |
267.05 |
2021 |
5 |
1.81% |
46,821.49 |
269.20 |
2021 |
6 |
3.07% |
48,258.06 |
271.70 |
2021 |
7 |
2.19% |
49,312.58 |
273.00 |
2021 |
8 |
-0.08% |
49,270.91 |
273.57 |
2021 |
9 |
0.45% |
49,493.70 |
274.31 |
2021 |
10 |
4.74% |
51,842.05 |
276.59 |
2021 |
11 |
0.27% |
51,979.64 |
277.95 |
2021 |
12 |
-2.05% |
50,913.05 |
278.80 |
Click to show 234 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.