Market size and global stock capitalization

Summary

Market size in the stock market is commonly measured by total global stock capitalization—the combined value of all publicly traded shares worldwide. According to the provided content, global market capitalization grew from about US$2.5 trillion in 1980 to about US$111 trillion by the end of 2023. The market is concentrated in a relatively small number of exchanges: as of 2016, there were about 60 stock exchanges globally, but 16 exchanges each had market capitalizations of at least US$1 trillion and together accounted for about 87% of global market capitalization. By geography, the largest stock markets are concentrated in a few countries. As of January 2022, the United States accounted for roughly 59.9% of the largest stock markets’ share, followed by Japan (about 6.2%) and the United Kingdom (about 3.9%). The content also notes that, outside of Australia, these major trillion-dollar exchanges are located in North America, Europe, or Asia, highlighting how global stock capitalization is distributed across regions rather than evenly across countries.

Key Points

• 1

  Global stock market size is measured by total worldwide market capitalization of publicly traded stocks.

• 2

  Global market capitalization increased from about US$2.5 trillion (1980) to about US$111 trillion (end of 2023).

• 3

  Market capitalization is concentrated: 16 exchanges (out of ~60) with at least US$1 trillion each account for about 87% of global market capitalization.

• 4

  The largest country shares (Jan 2022) are led by the United States (~59.9%), then Japan (~6.2%) and the United Kingdom (~3.9%).