Nasdaq CAGR: The Compound Annual Growth Rate of Nasdaq Composite Index

On any finance and stock market news channel or website, investors measure stock market growth via S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq CAGR.

But what is Nasdaq Composite Index?

The Nasdaq Composite Index is an index composed of more than 3000 companies that are listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market in the United States.

The stocks in the Nasdaq Composite Index are weighted proportional to the market capitalization of the stocks.

The Nasdaq Composite Index came into being in 1971, and it was introduced Nasdaq.

Some of the main stocks that constitute the Nasdaq Composite Index are Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Nvidia (NVDA), Tesla (TSLA), Alphabet (GOOG), Meta (META), etc.

The Nasdaq Composite Index is maintained by Nasdaq

Nasdaq CAGR: The Compound Annual Growth Rate of Nasdaq Composite Index

Nasdaq Average Return For Last 10 Years: 10 Year Nasdaq CAGR

Let’s take a look at the compound annual growth rate of Nasdaq Composite Index over a 10-year period. The period we are considering is May 2013 to May 2023 (2nd June, actually).

In this period we observe that the Index grew from 3,403 points to 13,205 points, over a period of 10 years.

Nasdaq Average Return For Last 10 Years: 10 Year Nasdaq CAGR

From 3,403 in 2013 to 13,205 in 2023

Let’s use our CAGR Calculator to calculate the Nasdaq CAGR for 10 years.

Putting in the values in the CAGR Calculator, we get the answer that the CAGR of Nasdaq Composite Index was 14.52% between May 2013 and May 2023 (2nd June, actually).

Nasdaq Average Return For Last 20 Years: 20 Year Nasdaq CAGR

Let’s take a look at the compound annual growth rate of Nasdaq Composite Index over a 20-year period. The period we are considering is May 2003 to May 2023 (2nd June, actually).

In this period we observe that the Index grew from 1,596 points to 13,204 points, over a period of 20 years.

Nasdaq Average Return For Last 20 Years: 20 Year Nasdaq CAGR

From 1,596 in 2003 to 13,204 in 2023

Let’s use our CAGR Calculator to calculate the Nasdaq CAGR.

Putting in the values in the CAGR Calculator, we get the answer that the CAGR of Nasdaq Composite Index was 11.14% between May 2003 and May 2023 (2nd June, actually).

We have shown two examples here to calculate the Nasdaq CAGR, but there are an infinite amount of time periods for which you could compute the CAGR. So, let’s take a look at how you can calculate the Nasdaq CAGR for any time period.

Nasdaq Average Return: How To Calculate Nasdaq CAGR?

Calculating the Nasdaq CAGR is easy, simply follow the steps below:

Step 1.

Go to Yahoo Finance or Google Finance and search for Nasdaq in the search bar.

Nasdaq Average Return: How To Calculate Nasdaq CAGR?

On Yahoo Finance, pick the first result, Nasdaq Composite, with the symbol ‘^IXIC’.

On Google Finance, pick the first result, Nasdaq Composite Index, with the symbol ‘.IXIC : INDEXNASDAQ’

Step 2.

On Yahoo Finance make the chart fullscreen by clicking on the ‘Full Screen’ option above the chart.

In case you get the new style Yahoo Finance chart, the date range picker is located at the bottom of the chart.

In case of old-style Yahoo Finance charts, you will see a date range picker on top of the chart.

In either case, simply pick a date range you’d like for your Nasdaq CAGR analysis.

Right next to it is the ‘Interval’. Pick the interval you’d like on your chart i.e. every data point on the chart should represent a day, week, month, etc.

Google Finance doesn’t allow the users to specify a particular date range, other than the predefined ranges it has – 1 day, 5 days, 1 month, 6 months, Year To Date, 1 Year, 5 Years, and MAX (which goes back to a maximum of 40 years for Nasdaq Composite Index).

You can pick a date range and hover over the chart to note down the date and values on Google Finance and skip to Step 4.

However, since Yahoo Finance allows more flexibility, we tend to use it more often.

Step 3.

Once you have the chart adjusted for your date ranges, hover over the chart, note down the starting date, and the closing value.

You know the current date, the current value can be obtained by hovering over the chart or simply looking at the top section.

Step 4.

Now you have the starting value (1596), ending value (13236), and the time period (20 years). Feed these values in the CAGR Calculator fields – initial amount, final amount, and years respectively. Hit Calculate CAGR, and you have your Nasdaq CAGR!

Is there a Nasdaq return calculator?

You can use the online CAGR Calculator as explained in this article to calculate the historical Nasdaq annual returns.

What is the Nasdaq average annual return?

The Nasdaq average annual return depends on the time period we want to observe. For example, as shown in this article, over the 20-year period from 2003 to 2023, we have seen an average annual return of 11.14%. But, during the 10-year period from 2013 to 2023, we have observed an annual average return of 14.52%