Here are the numbers, according to CNBC and Goldman Sachs analysis:
- There have been 26 market corrections (not including Thursday) since World War II with an average decline of 13.7% over an average of four months.
- Recoveries have taken four months on average.
- The most recent corrections occurred from September 2018 to December 2018. The S&P 500 bounced into and out of correction throughout the autumn of 2018 before plunging into a bear market (a 20% decline from its all-time high) on Christmas Eve.
- There have been 12 bear markets since World War II with an average decline of 32.5% as measured on a close-to-close basis.
- The most recent was October 2007 to March 2009, when the market dropped 57% and then took more than four years to recover. The S&P 500 closed in a bear market in December 2018 using intraday data.
- Bear markets have lasted 14.5 months on average and have taken two years to recover on average.
— CNBC’s Nate Rattner contributed reporting.