NEPSE Index History: Every Year, Every Crash, Every Record
Updated 25 October 2026 · Nepsense Markets
The NEPSE index has been printed continuously since the mid-1990s. In that time it has multiplied about fifteen times, lost three quarters of its value once, and spent the last five years below a peak it set in August 2021.
This page is the record. Every annual close from our own database, the two drawdowns that define the chart, and what an ordinary day actually looks like. If you want the live number instead of the history, today's NEPSE index runs through the session.
What the NEPSE index actually measures
NEPSE is Nepal's only stock exchange. The Securities Exchange Center was set up in 1976, became the Nepal Stock Exchange in 1993, and opened its trading floor on 13 January 1994. The government owns most of it, at 58.66%, with Nepal Rastra Bank, the Employees Provident Fund and Rastriya Banijya Bank holding smaller stakes.
The index is a market-capitalisation weighted index of the listed stocks, so the biggest companies pull it hardest. Because the largest listings on NEPSE have historically been commercial banks, the index has always leaned towards banking. A bad week for banks shows up in the headline number even when hydropower or insurance is fine. Sector-level moves sit on the sectors page, and NEPSE sorts listed scrips into 16 sector groupings.
NEPSE index history at a glance
- First close in our records: 173.26, on 20 July 1997.
- Lowest close: 156.43, on 2 June 1998.
- All-time closing high: 3,198.19, on 18 August 2021.
- Latest close: 2,634.17, on 16 October 2026.
- Deepest fall: -75.2%, from 1,175.38 on 31 August 2008 to 292.00 on 15 June 2011.
From 170.93 at the end of 1997 to 2,634.17 on 16 October 2026 is a 15.4x rise. It did not get there in a straight line, and the two worst stretches inside that rise are the reason people still argue about this market.
The 1990s: a small market finding a level
1997 and 1998 barely moved. The index fell 1.3% in 1997, rose 2.7% in 1998, and touched its lowest close of 156.43 in June 1998. Then 1999 broke: +49.6%, ending the year at 262.52.
That is the pattern to hold on to for the rest of this page. Long stretches where nothing happens, then a year that does most of the work.
2000 to 2005: the first boom and the long payback
2000 was the first of the big years: +85.9%, from 262.50 to 488.01, with a closing high of 545.82. The biggest single-day gain in our entire record came inside that run, 10.55% on 30 June 2000. The biggest single-day fall came three days later, -9.25% on 3 July 2000.
It did not hold. 2001 fell 44.7%, 2002 fell another 24.2%, and 2003 was flat at -1.4%. For two years the index sat near 200, roughly where it had been in 1998. The recovery was slow: +18.2% in 2004, +27.1% in 2005.
2006 to 2008: the run to 1,175
Then it went near-vertical. +69.9% in 2006, +91.4% in 2007 to close at 984.53, and a closing high of 1,175.38 reached on 31 August 2008. In under three years the index went from around 300 to over 1,100.
2008 to 2011: the 75% crash
That August 2008 close was the top. From 1,175.38 the index fell to 292.00 by 15 June 2011, a fall of 75.2% and the deepest peak-to-trough drop in our data.
Four consecutive losing years did it: -29.4% in 2008, -21.2% in 2009, -26.3% in 2010, -21.8% in 2011. 2008 even closed the year at its own low, 695.50. It did not happen in one session. It happened across four years of ordinary ones, which is why nobody felt it as a single event.
2012 to 2016: five straight up years
The recovery started quietly and then compounded: +69.0% in 2012, +44.4% in 2013, +17.0% in 2014, +27.6% in 2015 and +25.4% in 2016. Five consecutive positive years took the index from 319.00 to 1,443.38.
2016 also produced the highest close between the two great peaks: 1,881.45.
2017 to 2019: three years that went nowhere
-3.7%, then -14.6%, then -1.9%. By the end of 2019 the index was at 1,166.03, roughly where it had been four years earlier. Three lost years inside a bull market is the part of the chart people forget.
2020 and 2021: the boom to 3,198.19
2020 was the biggest year in the record: +79.0%, from 1,169.50 to 2,087.27. The index closed the year exactly at its high, with a low of 1,166.21 along the way.
2021 added another 20.9% to close at 2,524.50. But the number that matters is the one in the middle: 3,198.19 on 18 August 2021. Between that close and the end of the year the index gave up about a fifth of its value, which tells you how much of the year's gain was gone before it finished.
That 18 August close is still the all-time high. Nothing since has closed within 200 points of it.
2022: the 43% fall
The index fell 19.6% in 2022 to 2,029.03. Measured from the 2021 peak to the lowest close after it, 1,815.13 on 25 September 2022, the drop was 43.2%.
Smaller than 2008 to 2011 in percentage terms, and much faster. The first crash took almost three years. This one took thirteen months.
2023 to 2026: a slow climb back
2023 was flat at +2.0%. Then 2024 ran +24.5% to 2,576.50 and printed a closing high of 3,000.81. 2025 added just 2.2%, ending at 2,633.76 with a high of 3,002.07. Through 16 October 2026 the index is essentially unchanged for the year at 2,634.17, having traded between 2,513.42 and 2,960.40.
The shape of the last three years is a market that keeps approaching the 2021 record and pulling back. Two closes above 3,000, none above 3,198. NEPSE was closed from 17 to 23 October for Dashain, so 16 October is the latest close in our data. For the live level, see the NEPSE index now.
NEPSE index: year-by-year closes and returns
| Year | Close | Change | Year high | Year low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 488.01 | +85.9% | 545.82 | 262.50 |
| 2001 | 269.75 | -44.7% | 487.26 | 261.37 |
| 2002 | 204.44 | -24.2% | 266.28 | 186.22 |
| 2003 | 201.57 | -1.4% | 227.40 | 198.44 |
| 2004 | 238.29 | +18.2% | 241.60 | 195.14 |
| 2005 | 302.78 | +27.1% | 308.67 | 234.93 |
| 2006 | 514.42 | +69.9% | 520.96 | 303.26 |
| 2007 | 984.53 | +91.4% | 1,064.09 | 476.07 |
| 2008 | 695.50 | -29.4% | 1,175.38 | 695.50 |
| 2009 | 548.11 | -21.2% | 749.11 | 517.45 |
| 2010 | 404.06 | -26.3% | 546.96 | 390.98 |
| 2011 | 316.00 | -21.8% | 413.76 | 292.00 |
| 2012 | 534.00 | +69.0% | 541.00 | 299.00 |
| 2013 | 771.00 | +44.4% | 807.00 | 482.00 |
| 2014 | 902.00 | +17.0% | 1,084.00 | 754.00 |
| 2015 | 1,151.38 | +27.6% | 1,205.84 | 838.00 |
| 2016 | 1,443.38 | +25.4% | 1,881.45 | 1,146.11 |
| 2017 | 1,390.58 | -3.7% | 1,709.82 | 1,252.50 |
| 2018 | 1,188.19 | -14.6% | 1,456.07 | 1,118.13 |
| 2019 | 1,166.03 | -1.9% | 1,321.00 | 1,100.58 |
| 2020 | 2,087.27 | +79.0% | 2,087.27 | 1,166.21 |
| 2021 | 2,524.50 | +20.9% | 3,198.19 | 2,165.49 |
| 2022 | 2,029.03 | -19.6% | 2,947.38 | 1,815.13 |
| 2023 | 2,068.90 | +2.0% | 2,227.16 | 1,818.31 |
| 2024 | 2,576.50 | +24.5% | 3,000.81 | 1,958.75 |
| 2025 | 2,633.76 | +2.2% | 3,002.07 | 2,487.17 |
| 2026* | 2,634.17 | +0.0% | 2,960.40 | 2,513.42 |
Returns are measured against the previous year's final close. Highs and lows are closing levels. *2026 runs to 16 October.
How big is a normal day, and a normal year?
Over the last 250 sessions the average absolute daily move has been 0.72%. Most days, nothing happens. That is what a market with a single four-hour session and no intraday trading looks like on a chart.
The tail is what people remember. Since 2015 there have been 41 sessions where the index moved 4% or more from close to close, and 21 where it moved 5% or more. Not one moved 8%.
Part of the reason is mechanical: under the rules in force until April 2026, a 6% index move shut the market for the rest of the day, so the record could not easily show anything much larger. Those rules are gone. Since 20 April 2026 the market-wide halt triggers at a 5% move within the first two hours for a 15-minute pause, and trading is suspended for the day at 8%. The single-stock daily limit went from 10% to 15%, and the pre-open band from 2% to 5%. The full mechanics are in how the NEPSE circuit breaker works.
The market around the index has changed too
Reading old index history against today's market needs two corrections. NEPSE now trades Monday to Friday, 11:00 to 15:00, after moving off the Sunday to Thursday week in April 2026. And settlement is T+2, which means you cannot buy and sell the same shares on the same day, so the index you see each afternoon is not a day-trading index. Both are worth understanding before you compare a 2007 chart with a 2026 one: NEPSE trading hours and T+2 settlement.
What the record actually tells you
- Both numbers are true. The index is up about fifteen-fold since 1997, and it lost 75% inside that rise. Anyone quoting one without the other is selling something.
- Up years outnumber down years, and are bigger. Since 2000 the index has finished higher in 15 years, lower in 11, and flat in one. The up years are larger on average, which is how 262.50 became 2,634.17.
- Both great falls started at a record close. 1,175.38 in August 2008 and 3,198.19 in August 2021. The top is only obvious afterwards, and it always looks like a normal good day at the time.
- Most of the damage is slow. The 2008 to 2011 crash took four calendar years. No single session explains it.
- The index is not your portfolio. It is cap-weighted and bank-heavy. Your holdings can be down while the index is green, and often are.
The index, its sectors and the charts behind them are all in the app. If you would rather watch the number live than read a table, open a free account and start there.
Key takeaways
- All-time closing high: 3,198.19, set on 18 August 2021. The index closed at 2,634.17 on 16 October 2026, about 18% below it.
- Lowest close in our records: 156.43 on 2 June 1998. Data begins 20 July 1997 at 173.26.
- Deepest fall: -75.2% from August 2008 to June 2011, spread over four losing years.
- Fastest big fall: -43.2% from the August 2021 peak to 25 September 2022.
- Biggest single year: +79.0% in 2020. Biggest single day: +10.55% on 30 June 2000. Worst single day: -9.25% on 3 July 2000.
- The average daily move over the last 250 sessions is 0.72%. Only 21 sessions since 2015 have moved 5% or more.