How Long Does It Take for Stocks to Recover (After A Crash)?
When the stock market crashes, it feels like the world is ending. Your portfolio’s in tatters, the news is a wall of gloom, and all you can think is: How long will it take to get back to normal? How many months—or years—until stocks recover and those pre-crash highs return?
The good news? History offers some indications. By examining nearly 90 years of S&P 500 data—from the catastrophic 1929 plunge until today—we can see how long recovery typically takes.
The bad news? It’s not always quick. The markets drop a lot quicker than they rise. Let’s break it down and uncover what the past teaches about bouncing back. (We have previously covered how long does it take for stocks to bottom.)
Stock Market Recovery Times Through History
Recovery means returning to the peak before the fall—when the S&P 500 climbs out of its drawdown and hits that prior high again.
To figure out how long that takes, we’re looking at 15 major declines from 1929 to 2018, as tracked by Of Dollars And Data. The table below lists each drop, its severity, and the years it took to recover.
| Year of Peak | Drop from Peak (%) | Years to Recover |
|---|---|---|
| 1929 | -86.2% | 25 |
| 1937 | -54.5% | 8 |
| 1946 | -26.6% | 4 |
| 1956 | -21.6% | 1 |
| 1961 | -27.9% | 1 |
| 1968 | -36.1% | 4 |
| 1973 | -48.2% | 6 |
| 1980 | -27.1% | 2 |
| 1987 | -33.5% | 2 |
| 1990 | -19.9% | 1 |
| 2000 | -49.1% | 7 |
| 2007 | -56.8% | 6 |
| 2011 | -19.4% | 1 |
| 2015 | -12.4% | 1 |
| 2018 | -19.8% | 1 |
The numbers tell a wild story. The 1929 crash—an 86.2% collapse during the Great Depression—took a staggering 25 years to recover.
The 2007 financial crisis, with a 56.8% drop, needed 6 years, rebounding by 2013. Yet milder declines, like 2015’s 12.4% dip or 1990’s 19.9% fall, snapped back in just one year. The average across these 15 events? About 4.5 years. But that average hides a huge range—1 year for quick recoveries, decades for the worst.
Smaller drops—under 20%—tend to heal fast, often within 12 to 24 months. Bigger crashes, those exceeding 40%, like 1929, 2000’s dot-com bust, or 1973’s stagflation mess, drag on—6, 7, or even 25 years. The pattern’s clear: The deeper the wound, the longer the recovery.
Let’s look at all drawdowns bigger than 10%:
| Median years | |
| Drawdown % | Bottom to new peak |
| 10 | 1.5 |
| 20 | 4.1 |
| 30 | 7.3 |
| 40 | 8.7 |
| 50 | 5.2 |
Why Some Recoveries Drag On (and Others Don’t)
What makes recovery times so varied?
It’s most likely about the crash’s roots. Shallow declines—like 1987’s 33.5% Black Monday drop—often come from temporary panic or technical glitches. That one recovered in two years because the economy wasn’t truly broken; it was a market overreaction that corrected itself. The same is true for 2011’s 19.4% dip, tied to debt ceiling fears; it bounced back in a year once the dust settled.
Big crashes, though, are different beasts. The 1929 plunge was tied to a decade-long economic unraveling—banks failed, jobs vanished, and it took 25 years (plus a world war) to rebuild.
The 2000 dot-com crash, down 49.1%, needed 7 years because an entire sector—tech—had to reinvent itself after the bubble burst.
And 2007’s 56.8% fall? Six years, thanks to a global housing meltdown and a banking crisis that required massive bailouts to stabilize.
The takeaway? We believe it boils down to this: Quick recoveries follow quick problems—shocks that scare but don’t scar. Long recoveries follow systemic failures—when the economy itself needs surgery and medicines, not just a plaster.
Unfortunately, we only know in hindsight how long it takes.
What This Means for You
So, how long should you expect to wait if stocks crash tomorrow? History’s average of 4.5 years might be a benchmark, but the size of the drawdown seems to matter. A 20% correction might take 1-2 years to recover—painful but manageable. A 50% bear market? Brace for 6-7 years, or more if it’s a 1929-style catastrophe. The data says recovery will happen—every crash on this list eventually did—but it’s not always fast.
For investors, this is a gut check. Can you stomach 4 or 5 years of uncertainty? Selling at the bottom locks in losses; holding through the storm has historically paid off.
No one knows what’ll spark the next drop—inflation, tech bubbles, or something new. But history indicates that stocks most likely recover, barring revolutions or nationalization. The question is whether you’ve got the patience to see it through. Next time the market tanks, remember the statistics from this article.