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Visualized: US vs. Global Stock Market Returns
February 28, 2025
So far in 2025, international stocks have outperformed the S&P 500. Even with the U.S. stock market hitting record highs this year, European stocks are seeing the strongest relative performance in more than a decade.
In recent times, global stocks have lagged behind the U.S., with the S&P 500 averaging a 13.8% annualized return over the past decade. Global stocks have averaged an annualized return of just 4.9% over the same period.
The last time that international stocks saw a sustained outperformance of U.S. stocks was in the early 2000s. The dotcom crash, followed by the great financial crisis, dragged on U.S. equities during the first decade of the century. At the same time, China’s economic growth fueled global equities.
For a full overview of how U.S. and global stocks have performed in recent decades, our friends at Visual Capitalist have compiled the following infographic.
