Nifty Smallcap 250 Historical Returns
The Nifty Smallcap 250 holds the 250 companies ranked 251 to 500 by full market value. Figures come from the NAV of a fund that tracks it, so returns include dividends and are after fund costs.
Price history
Month-end values, on a log scale (equal distances are equal percentage changes). Hover a year-end point for its value.
About Nifty Smallcap 250
The Nifty Smallcap 250 holds the 250 companies ranked 251 to 500 by full market value.
What it means for investors. Small-caps have shown the widest swings among the equity indices here. Long holding periods have mattered more, and drawdowns have been deeper and sometimes slower to recover.
Returns over time
| Series | 1Y | 3Y | 5Y | 10Y | 15Y | 20Y | Max fall | Data to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nifty Smallcap 250 | 3.6% | 12.2% | 12.8% | n/a | n/a | n/a | −43% | 1 Oct 2026 |
Annualised (CAGR) for periods of a year or more, ending on each series' latest date. “n/a” means the series does not go back that far. Max fall: the largest fall from a previous peak over the whole history.
AMFI NAV history (daily NAV file; earlier history via mfapi.in, which republishes AMFI NAVs), stored and cleaned by MFIC. Proxy: Motilal Oswal Nifty Smallcap 250 Index Fund (Regular, growth) (total return after fund costs (proxy)). Data 11 Sep 2019 to 1 Oct 2026. Latest level: NSE daily index closing values. Returns use the fund NAV history, which includes dividends.
Calendar-year returns
| Year | Return |
|---|---|
| 2026 to 1 Oct | 5.0% |
| 2025 | −6.3% |
| 2024 | 25.6% |
| 2023 | 47.3% |
| 2022 | −4.1% |
| 2021 | 60.1% |
| 2020 | 25.1% |
| 2019 part year | 5.2% |
Over 6 complete calendar years since 2020, Nifty Smallcap 250 rose in 4. Best: 2021 (+60.1%). Worst: 2025 (−6.3%).
Year-end to year-end, from AMFI NAV history (daily NAV file; earlier history via mfapi.in, which republishes AMFI NAVs), stored and cleaned by MFIC.
Falls from peak and recovery
| Peak | Bottom | Fall | Months down | Back to peak | Months to recover | Events in the fall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2024 | Mar 2025 | −26.4% | 5 | not yet | — | — |
| Feb 2024 | Mar 2024 | −12.5% | 1 | Apr 2024 | 1 | — |
| Jan 2022 | Jun 2022 | −27.0% | 5 | Jul 2023 | 12 | Russia–Ukraine war begins; RBI off-cycle rate hike |
| Jan 2020 | Mar 2020 | −42.5% | 2 | Nov 2020 | 8 | COVID-19 declared a pandemic; National lockdown announced |
Each fall of 10% or more from a previous high, measured on daily data. The 4 deepest are shown. “Back to peak” is the first date it regained the previous high.
Rolling returns: the range of outcomes
| Holding period | Periods | Median | Worst | Best | Middle half | Positive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 73 | 16.0% | −9.6% | 121.9% | −0.6% to 51.5% | 73% |
| 3 years | 49 | 24.3% | 12.7% | 39.5% | 20.1% to 28.8% | 100% |
| 5 years | 25 | 24.4% | 13.1% | 35.5% | 17.4% to 29.2% | 100% |
Every holding period starting at a month-end in the history (overlapping). Annualised for periods over a year.
How it has moved with other assets
| Compared with | Correlation | Months |
|---|---|---|
| Nifty 50 | 0.81 | 84 |
| Gold (domestic, ₹) | −0.12 | 84 |
| 10-year G-Sec (bond fund) | 0.06 | 84 |
| USD/INR | −0.50 | 84 |
| BSE Sensex | 0.79 | 84 |
Correlation of monthly returns over the months both series have: +1 moves together, 0 unrelated, −1 opposite. Relationships change over time.
Questions
- What has Nifty Smallcap 250 returned over the long run?
- Calculated from Motilal Oswal Nifty Smallcap 250 Index Fund (Regular, growth), Nifty Smallcap 250 returned 12.8% a year over the 5 years to 1 Oct 2026, and 12.2% a year over 3 years. Past returns do not indicate future returns.
- What was the biggest fall in Nifty Smallcap 250?
- In the data available from Sep 2019, the largest fall from a previous peak was −42.5%, from Jan 2020 to Mar 2020, and it regained the peak in Nov 2020 (8 months after the bottom). There were 4 falls of 10% or more, 3 of them 20% or more.
- How often has Nifty Smallcap 250 been positive over one year?
- Across 73 one-year periods starting at month-ends, 73% were positive; the range was −9.6% to 121.9%. Over five-year periods (25), 100% were positive, with annualised returns from 13.1% to 35.5%.
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