Drawdown recovery calculator
A 50% loss needs a 100% gain to recover. Enter any drawdown to see the gain required to return to your starting balance, and an estimate of how long that takes at a fixed return per period.
Why losses and gains are not symmetrical
A drawdown is measured from the peak balance, but the recovery is measured from the lower balance. After a 20% fall, a $10,000 account holds $8,000, and getting back to $10,000 needs $2,000 on $8,000, which is 25%. The formula is:
Gain needed = drawdown ÷ (1 − drawdown)
With 20%: 0.20 ÷ 0.80 = 0.25, or 25%.
| Drawdown | Gain needed to recover |
|---|---|
| 5% | 5.26% |
| 10% | 11.11% |
| 20% | 25.00% |
| 25% | 33.33% |
| 30% | 42.86% |
| 40% | 66.67% |
| 50% | 100.00% |
| 60% | 150.00% |
| 75% | 300.00% |
| 90% | 900.00% |
Small drawdowns need only slightly larger gains. Beyond about 30% the required gain rises steeply, and a 90% loss needs a 900% gain. This is the arithmetic behind keeping risk per trade small.
How long a recovery takes
If you enter a return per period, the calculator estimates how many periods of that return, compounded, would close the gap: periods = ln(1 ÷ (1 − drawdown)) ÷ ln(1 + rate). A 20% drawdown at a steady 2% per month takes about 11.3 months. Real returns are never steady, so treat this as an illustration of scale, not a forecast.
Related tools and guides
Frequently asked questions
How much do I need to gain to recover from a 50% loss?
100%. Half the balance is gone, so the remaining half has to double to get back to the start.
What is the formula for drawdown recovery?
Gain needed = drawdown ÷ (1 − drawdown). A 25% drawdown needs 0.25 ÷ 0.75 = 33.33%.
What is maximum drawdown?
Maximum drawdown is the largest fall from a peak balance to a later low before a new peak is made. It is a common way to judge how much pain a strategy or account has gone through.
How can I limit drawdowns?
Keep the risk on each trade small and fixed, use a stop loss on every position, and avoid adding to losing trades. Smaller risk per trade means a losing streak produces a smaller drawdown.
Calculators are for education and planning. They do not account for your broker's spread, commission, swap or contract terms. Trading forex and CFDs carries a high risk of losing money. Read our risk disclosure.