Recently, I examined the performance of the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) over the last 20 years. I wanted to see how the UK’s blue-chip stock market index has performed over the long term.
Interested to know what kind of return the index generated over this period? Read on to find out.
My analysis
My analysis focused on the returns generated by the index over the past 20 years. So my calculations don’t factor in the gains or dividends the index has generated in 2024 (the index rose 6.5% in the first nine months of the year).
And I focused on every year. This is gains plus dividends. It’s worth noting that with the FTSE 100, dividends are a major component of overall returns. Currently, the yield on the index is about 3.3%.
Average returns
Crunching the numbers, I found that over the 20-year period, the Footsie returned 241% in total. That equates to about 6.3% on an annualised basis.
Now, a 6.3% annualised return over 20 years isn’t a…
