The MSCI World is a widely followed global stock market index that tracks the performance of around 1,300 large and mid-cap companies across 23 developed countries.[1][2] It is maintained by MSCI, formerly Morgan Stanley Capital International, and is used as a common benchmark for global stock funds intended to represent a broad cross-section of global markets.[citation needed]
The index includes a collection of stocks of all the developed markets in the world, as defined by MSCI. The exclusion of stocks from emerging and frontier economies makes the index narrower in global coverage than the name suggests.[clarification needed] A related index, the MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI), incorporates both developed and emerging countries. MSCI also produces a Frontier Markets index, including another 31 markets.[3]
The MSCI World Index has been calculated since 1969,[4] in various forms: without dividends (Price Index), with net or with gross dividends reinvested (Net and Gross Index), in US dollars, Euro and local currencies.
Index Composition Methodology
The MSCI World Index is constructed by classifying equity securities from countries with developed markets into large-cap and mid-cap segments based on their free float-adjusted market capitalization.
Market capitalization refers to the total market value of a company's outstanding shares, calculated as the share price multiplied by the total number of shares. In MSCI's methodology, this figure is adjusted to include only the public float[why?]: meaning only shares readily available for public trading (also known as the "free float") are counted, excluding those held by insiders, governments, or other holders who are unlikely to trade.
Within each developed market country, MSCI ranks companies by their free float-adjusted market capitalization and includes:
- Large-cap stocks: companies that collectively account for approximately the top 70% of the cumulative market capitalization
- Mid-cap stocks: companies that bring the cumulative total of market capitalization up to 85%
The MSCI index excludes the remaining 15% of market capitalization segment, corresponding to low-cap stocks.
This segmentation ensures that the MSCI World Index captures 85% of the investable equity universe in each country, providing broad coverage of developed market equities.
Market Classification Methodology
MSCI evaluates a country's equity market as "developed" if all of the following criteria are met:[5][6]
| Criterion | Threshold (June 2025 framework) | Purpose |
| Economic development | Gross National Income (GNI) per capita ≥ 125 % of the World Bank high-income threshold
(i.e., ≥ USD $17,506 based on the USD $14,005 2023 benchmark) for three consecutive years |
Demonstrates sustained high income level |
| Size & liquidity
(entry requirement) |
≥ 5 companies that, in each of the last eight index reviews, individually satisfy:
|
Ensures a sufficiently deep investable universe |
| Size & liquidity (maintenance requirement) | Even after inclusion, ≥ 1 company must continue to meet the above size-and-liquidity figures, and the market must retain ≥ 5 securities in its investable equity universe | Preserves index stability |
| Market accessibility | Rated "Very High" or "Unrestricted" across the five sub-criteria:
|
Guarantees seamless access for global investors |
MSCI monitors all countries continuously, but formal reclassification consultations occur each spring, with decisions announced the following June and implemented in quarterly index reviews. Off-cycle announcements are reserved for exceptional market events.
Country representation
The index includes companies domiciled in the following 23 countries[citation needed]:
- Australia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Canada
- Denmark
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Hong Kong
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Portugal
- Singapore
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- United Kingdom
- United States
Sector representation
- Information Technology (26.9%)
- Financials (16.7%)
- Industrials (11.4%)
- Consumer Discretionary (10.1%)
- Health Care (9.12%)
- Consumer Staples (5.75%)
- Communication Services (8.48%)
- Energy (3.52%)
- Materials (3.15%)
- Utilities (2.65%)
- Real Estate (1.97%)
Companies are divided into sectors using the Global Industry Classification Standard. The aggregate distribution of companies that comprise the index is shown here in the pie chart, with information technology being the biggest sector with more than 26% as of July 2025.[1]
Total annual returns
| Year | Gross Annual Return (a) [citation needed][7] |
|---|---|
| 1970 | −1.98% |
| 1971 | 19.56% |
| 1972 | 23.55% |
| 1973 | −14.51% |
| 1974 | −24.48% |
| 1975 | 34.50% |
| 1976 | 14.71% |
| 1977 | 5.00% |
| 1978 | 18.22% |
| 1979 | 12.67% |
| 1980 | 27.72% |
| 1981 | −3.30% |
| 1982 | 11.27% |
| 1983 | 23.28% |
| 1984 | 5.77% |
| 1985 | 41.77% |
| 1986 | 42.80% |
| 1987 | 16.76% |
| 1988 | 23.95% |
| 1989 | 17.19% |
| 1990 | −16.52% |
| 1991 | 18.97% |
| 1992 | −4.66% |
| 1993 | 23.13% |
| 1994 | 5.58% |
| 1995 | 21.32% |
| 1996 | 14.00% |
| 1997 | 16.23% |
| 1998 | 24.80% |
| 1999 | 25.34% |
| 2000 | −12.92% |
| 2001 | −16.52% |
| 2002 | −19.54% |
| 2003 | 33.76% |
| 2004 | 15.25% |
| 2005 | 10.02% |
| 2006 | 20.65% |
| 2007 | 9.57% |
| 2008 | −40.33% |
| 2009 | 30.79% |
| 2010 | 12.34% |
| 2011 | −5.02% |
| 2012 | 16.54% |
| 2013 | 27.37% |
| 2014 | 5.50% |
| 2015 | −0.32% |
| 2016 | 8.15% |
| 2017 | 23.07% |
| 2018 | −8.20% |
| 2019 | 28.40% |
| 2020 | 16.50% |
| 2021 | 22.35% |
| 2022 | −17.73% |
| 2023 | 24.42% |
| 2024 | 19.19% |
| 2025 | 21.60% |
- (a) Total returns including reinvested dividends.[8][9]
See also
- FTSE Global Equity Index Series (FTSE All-World Index)
- Exchange-traded fund
- MSCI EAFE
- S&P Global 100
- S&P Global 1200
- Stock market index
References
- ^ a b "MSCI World Index - Factsheet" (PDF). msci.com. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
- ^ "MSCI World Index - Constituents". msci.com. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
- ^ "Frontier markets" (PDF).
- ^ start date of MSCI World FREE index history is December 31, 1969
- ^ "Market Classification". www.msci.com. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
- ^ MSCI (June 2025). "MSCI Market Classification Framework" (PDF). Retrieved 25 June 2025.
- ^ "MSCI World Index (USD)".
- ^ "Index tools - MSCI". mscibarra.com. Archived from the original on 25 January 2010. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
- ^ "MSCI WORLD INDEX (USD)". Retrieved 12 January 2019.
