The global stock market is growing in capitalization and is valued at $109 trillion

Since 2003, the size of global stock markets has nearly tripled, reaching a total market capitalization of $109 trillion.

Over the past few decades, rising money supply and ultra-low interest rates have boosted asset values ​​across all economies.
Against this backdrop, the chart above shows the size of the global stock market in 2023, based on data from the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA).

World stock market, by weight

With the deepest capital markets in the world, the US accounts for 42.5% of global stock market capitalization, significantly ahead of the next closest economy, the European Union.

Here are the world's major stock markets based on global market capitalization as of Q2 2023:

 Today, the market capitalization of US stock markets exceeds $46.2 trillion.

Compared to other rich countries, U.S. stocks have often outperformed over the past few decades. If an investor had invested $100 in the S&P 500 in 1990, that investment would have grown to about $2,000 in 2023, four times the returns seen in other developed countries.

The second largest equity market is the European Union with 11.1% global share, followed by China with 10.6%.

China's economy has grown roughly 12-fold over the past 20 years, reaching $19.4 trillion this year. China's stock markets have also risen significantly, boosted by the inclusion of Chinese domestic equities in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index in 2018 and earlier with the internationalization of stock markets in 2002.

Japan's stock markets account for 5.4% of the world's share, followed by Hong Kong with 4%.

Future investment landscape

Goldman Sachs predicts that by 2030, US stock market capitalization will fall to 35% of the total global market.

Meanwhile, emerging markets including China and India are forecast to collectively reach 35% over the same period. By 2050, developing countries' share is expected to significantly exceed that of the United States, rising to 47% of global stock markets.