Key Stock Market Statistics & Facts to Know in 2023
The stock market statistics presented below will best showcase the turmoil the stock market has been through in the past few years. From Covid to social upheaval to the war between Russia and Ukraine, many forces have been acting upon markets all around the world. In the United States, markets took a significant hit at the beginning of the pandemic, particularly when recovery didn’t happen as expected after the initial outbreak in early 2020.
So how is the market doing now, in 2023? What is the total value of the global market and who are the key players? Let’s take a look at some statistics to find out.
Top Stock Market Statistics: Editor’s Choice
The total global stock market cap is over $95 trillion.
The largest stock exchange in the world by market capitalization of around $27.2 trillion is the NYSE.
Japan Exchange Group is the world’s largest stock exchange operator by the number of listed companies.
In 2021, there were more IPOs in the US than at any other time in the last twenty years.
In the US, 60-75% of stock market trading is automated.
Covid has shown that, despite being worth less, the GCSI is a more stable index than the S&P500.
Sky Harbor Group Corporation is currently the company with the most shorted stocks in the world.
In 2020, Apple became the first company to reach a $2 trillion market cap.
Globally, the largest ever IPO was of Saudi Aramco in 2019.
Stock markets in the US account for almost 60% of all global stocks.
Global Stock Market Statistics 2023
While there is no “global stock market,” there is a network of stock markets that make up the total global trading activity. These markets can be evaluated individually or as they contribute to the total wealth of the world. The largest markets are in the United States, with Japan, China, Canada, and Europe controlling the next largest segments of the total market.
The total global stock market cap is over $95 trillion.
At the end of 2020, despite the downturn caused by the pandemic, the total stock market value was $95 trillion. The value rose significantly throughout 2020, from a low of about $60 trillion in April. As of 2022, the global equity market cap is $117 trillion.
(CNBC, Sifma)
The largest stock exchange in the world by market capitalization of around $27.2 trillion is the NYSE.
Despite being the sixth-largest stock exchange by the number of companies, global stock market data show that the New York Stock Exchange is the largest in terms of the market capitalization of listed companies. The NYSE has an equity market capitalization of around $27.2 trillion. The next-largest exchanges by market cap are the Nasdaq, the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and Euronext.
(Statista)
The largest stock exchange operator in the world by the number of listed companies is Japan Exchange Group.
Stock market numbers indicate that in terms of the number of listed companies, as of March 2022, the Japan Exchange Group was the largest stock exchange operator in the world. The group has 3823 companies listed. The next-largest stock exchange in terms of the number of companies listed is Nasdaq, with 3767 companies listed.
(Statista)
The total value of the US stock market is $48,264,353.4 million.
The total market capitalization of the US stock market is $48,264,353.4 million as of March 31, 2022. This is the total market cap of all US-based publicly traded companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq Stock Market (the two largest stock exchanges), or OTCQX. Despite the pandemic, the total market value of listed American companies increased by 20% in 2020.
(Siblis Research)
Nasdaq is the stock exchange with the highest number of foreign companies.
With 849 international companies and 2918 domestic companies listed, the US Nasdaq is the stock exchange with the most foreign companies listed, according to stock market facts about the distribution of companies within exchanges. The stock exchange with the next-highest number of international companies listed is NYSE, also in the US, with 593 foreign and 1936 domestic companies listed.
The stock exchange with the fewest international companies listed is the Chinese Shenzhen Stock Exchange, which has no international companies listed.
(Statista)
Stock Markets During and After Covid-19
In February and March of 2020, global markets took a significant hit in the face of a pandemic that did not appear to be going away anywhere anytime soon. Many markets experienced their largest one-day drops in over thirty years at that time, and, according to stock market trends, many are still recovering. Fortunately, as of April 2022, most markets have seen a substantial recovery, and many have returned to their pre-pandemic values.
The steepest single-day fall of the S&P500 since 1987 occurred on March 12, 2020.
On March 12, 2020, the S&P500 dropped 9.5%, which was its steepest one-day fall in 33 years according to historical facts about stocks. At that time the weekly value of the index stood at 2447 points. The index began to recover in April and had recovered to a new record high by January 20, 2021. As of April 20, 2022, the S&P500 weekly value stands at 4393 points.
(Statista)
Since the height of the Covid pandemic, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has recovered about 14,000 points.
In February 2020, just before the global Covid pandemic fully hit, the Dow stood at about 29,000 points. Between February 12 and March 11, 2020, the index dropped about 8000 points, to 20,704 points. Since then, stock trading statistics show that it has steadily recovered and as of April 20, 2022, the value stands at 34,792 points.
(Statista)
The Dow dropped by more than 3,500 points in the last week of February 2020.
At the beginning of February 2020, analysts were optimistic that the Covid outbreak would ease. Unfortunately, it did not, and the Dow recorded its worst drop since 2008 in one week at the end of February (a drop of 12.4%.) During this time, the value of the NYSE, the Nasdaq, and the S&P500 also plummeted.
(Statista)
As of April 2022, the FTSE had recovered above pre-pandemic conditions.
On March 12, 2020, the Financial Times Stock Exchange of London experienced its second-largest single-day drop in history and the largest since 1987. At that time, the exchange was valued at around 4993 points. As of April 2022, however, the FTSE index was valued at 7,616 points, which is higher than its average value of around 7,500 points in early 2020 prior to the crash.
(Statista)
US Market Statistics
As the country with the most important stock exchanges in the world (the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq), the United States is certainly a dominant force in global economics. Apart from having the largest markets by the number of companies listed and total market share, the United States also has the most IPOs of any country and the largest portion of the proceeds from IPOs.
In 2021, there were more IPOs in the US than at any other time in the last 20 years.
As well as having the biggest stock exchanges, the US also has the most IPOs. In 2021, there were 1035 IPOs in the United States. Prior to that, surprisingly, the record for the year with the largest number of IPOs in the US was held by 2020, at 480 IPOs. The number of IPOs in 2021 more than doubled the previous record, which was not much higher than the yearly average.
(Stock Analysis)
In terms of IPO proceeds, Nasdaq was the leading global stock exchange in 2021.
In 2021, 1035 companies IPOed in the United States. Stock market figures indicate that proceeds from these IPOs totaled $49.2 billion in the first six months, as much as the total proceeds from the whole previous year. This made Nasdaq the largest stock exchange in the world by IPO proceeds in 2021. In 2020, the second-largest exchange by IPO proceeds was the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
(Statista)
In 2020, Apple became the first company to reach a $2 trillion market cap.
Here’s some interesting stock market trivia: Apple doubled its valuation in just over two years between 2018 and 2020, reaching a valuation of just over $2 trillion in 2020. This made it the first-ever US company to reach such a high market cap. On the day that it happened, the company closed below $2 trillion, as the share price fell throughout the day.
(NBC)
Globally, the largest ever IPO was of Saudi Aramco in 2019.
In 2019, Saudi Aramco, a Saudi Arabian petroleum and natural gas company, did its initial public offering on the Tadawul exchange. At a stock market worth of $25.6 billion, it was the largest public offering globally as of June 2022. The second-largest IPO was Alibaba.
(Statista)
The current stock market is overvalued.
According to the Buffet Indicator, the stock market is “significantly overvalued.” Based on the historical ratio of total market capitalization over GDP (currently 148.4%), the stock market rate of return is expected to be 1.8% a year, including dividends. According to the historical ratio of the newly introduced total market capitalization over GDP plus total assets of Federal Reserve Banks, the market is “modestly overvalued.”
(Guru Focus)
The largest IPO in the United States was Alibaba in 2014.
At nearly $22 billion, the 2014 IPO of Alibaba Group was the largest IPO in the United States ever. According to IPO-related facts about the stock market, Visa holds the spot for the second-largest IPO in the US, at around $18 billion, followed by ENEL SpA, an energy company based in Italy.
(Statista)
In the US, 60-75% of stock market trading is automated.
In the United States, between 60 and 75% of the total trading volume is completely automated (performed by algorithms.) This is also true in other large, well-established financial markets. In emerging markets, however, the percentage of algorithmic trading is lower. In India, for example, around 40% of the total trading volume is done by algorithms. This could be one of the more useful statistics for traders who are still learning about how the stock market works.
(The Robust Trader)
Precious Metals Market Statistics
Gold, silver, and platinum might not be the first things that come to mind when thinking about the stock market. However, precious metals have their own index, and many covet them as a more stable investment commodity than stock market shares, stock market statistics show. During the pandemic, the precious metals index resisted the drop in value that the S&P500 and other global shares exchanges experienced.
Covid has shown that, despite being worth less, the GCSI is a more stable index than the S&P500.
The GCSI precious metals index tracks the price of precious metals futures contracts around the globe. One of the more interesting facts about the stock market is that although the difference between the value of this index and the value of the S&P500 shares index has increased since 2019 (in 2019, the difference was only around 900 points, now the S&P500 is about 1500 points higher than the GCSI) the GCSI index resisted the precipitous drop in value that the S&P500 and other global shares exchanges saw at the height of the Covid pandemic.
This indicates to some analysts that the GCSI is more stable than the S&P500 during periods of economic turmoil, stock market stats show.
(Statista)
The price of silver is expected to fall over the next five years.
On May 3, 2022, silver futures contracts scheduled to be settled in December 2026 were trading around $25.54 per troy ounce. This is above the price of contracts settled on April 20, 2022, when they traded around $22 per troy ounce. Counterintuitively, this indicates that silver traders expect the price of silver to drop in the next five years.
According to Wall Street facts about alternative markets, silver futures contracts lock in a price for an amount of silver to be purchased at a time in the future. Once purchased, the silver can be traded on the markets.
(Statista)
The global demand for gold as an investment tool has risen since 2021.
Gold is used in many ways, including for jewelry, in technological devices, as an investment tool, and by central banks. In 2022, the primary demand for gold was for investment purposes, with 550 metric tons of gold used for that purpose in Q1. The next-biggest driver of demand for gold is for jewelry purposes, with 517 metric tons of gold used for that purpose in Q1 of 2022.
(Statista)
The global demand for gold dropped by almost half during the Covid pandemic.
Gold as a commodity remains fairly stable, however, demand did drop during the pandemic. World market capitalization for gold is measured in metric tons. The peak demand in the last 6 years came in Q4 of 2018, with 1296 metric tons of gold demanded globally. The lowest point came in Q4 of 2020, with just 766 metric tons demanded.
(Statista)
General Stock Market Stats
Did you know that US stocks have only been quoted in decimal format since the year 2001? Or that the US market accounts for almost 60% of the total global stock market value? Or that in the year 2021, GameStop had been shorted so hard that over 1221% of its shares had been borrowed? Here are some fun facts you didn’t know about the stock market.
US stocks have only been written in decimal format since 2001.
Decimal trading refers to a system in which the price of a stock is written in decimal format. One of the most fascinating Wall Street history facts is that the SEC only ordered all stock markets in the US to convert from fractional quotes to decimal quotes in April of 2001. Before that, market price quotes in the US were written in increments of 1/16 of a dollar.
(Investopedia)
Stock markets in the US account for almost 60% of all global stocks.
The NYSE and Nasdaq are the most prominent stock exchanges worldwide in terms of the number of companies listed or market capitalization. The size of the US stock market is larger than any other in the world. At the beginning of 2022, these US stock markets accounted for 59.9% of the total world equity market value. The country with the second-biggest stock exchange is Japan, with 6.2% of the total world equity market value.
(Statista)
Sky Harbor Group Corporation is currently the company with the most shorted stocks in the world.
As of April 2022, American Aviation company Sky Harbor Group had 49.88% of its total float shorted, making them the company with the largest percentage of its stock shorted in the world, statistics for stock trading indicate. In 2021, game retailer GameStop had 121.07% of its total shares shorted. This led to a campaign to drive up the price of GameStop stock, meaning that those investors had to repurchase their stock at a loss of billions.
(Statista)
Stock Market FAQ
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Stock Market Statistics: The Takeaway
Despite significant instability throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the global stock market appears to be stabilizing. Thankfully, the S&P500 and the Dow have recovered to their pre-pandemic levels, meaning that more than half of the global stock market value has recovered. The United States is without a doubt the largest player in the global stock market, so it’s fair to say that we can use the country’s exchanges as an indicator of the health of the total market.
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