Great Depression years: when it started and when it ended

Which years count as the Great Depression years?

Two dating conventions coexist. Wikipedia dates the Depression from 1929 to 1939 and describes the outbreak of World War II in 1939 as its end. The Federal Reserve History essay dates it from August 1929 to 1941, when output and employment returned to full levels during the war.

The gap of 2 years matters less than the shape. Every source agrees on 4 phases: a slide from 1929, a trough in March 1933, a recovery with a second dip in 1937, and a return to full output in the early 1940s. The sections below follow those phases year by year.

When did the Great Depression start, in August or October 1929?

The Federal Reserve History essay places the start in August 1929, when the Roaring Twenties expansion ended and the contraction began. The stock market crash followed in October. Wikipedia notes that the crash of October 1929 is often considered the beginning. Both dates fall in 1929, so the year itself is common ground, and the debate concerns the month and the trigger.

The economy turned before the market did. The contraction began in summer 1929, and the crash then deepened it. The effects of the crash itself faded within a few months, and by fall 1930 recovery seemed imminent, which is why the later years carry most of the story.

What happened in the Great Depression years of 1930 and 1931?

Recovery hopes ended in late 1930. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act was signed on 17 June 1930, and the first major banking crisis began in November 1930. Over 800 banks had closed by January 1931, according to Wikipedia. The two events show how trade policy and bank stress arrived within 5 months of each other.

The year 1931 added the international side. The Fed repeated its rate-raising mistake during the international crisis of fall 1931, and by October 1931 over 2,100 banks had been suspended. The slump deepened with each wave of closures.

How did 1932 change the Great Depression years?

In 1932 policy tried to catch up. Hoover signed the Reconstruction Finance Corporation law on 22 January 1932, creating a lender of last resort for banks, railroads, and other large businesses, with initial funding of $500 million. Congress also granted new authority that let the Fed expand the monetary base aggressively in spring 1932.

Markets and jobs still fell. The Dow closed at 41.22 on 8 July 1932, 89% below its peak, and unemployment reached 23.6% by 1932, according to Wikipedia. The Fed then changed course and let the contraction resume, so 1932 ended without a recovery.

Why does 1933 mark the trough of the Great Depression years?

March 1933 was the trough. Roosevelt took office on 4 March 1933 and declared a national banking holiday soon afterwards, and the Emergency Banking Act passed on 9 March 1933. Wikipedia reports that unemployment reached about 25% in early 1933. The week of 4 March therefore combined a new president, a banking pause, and the first emergency law.

From there the direction changed. The Banking Act of 1933 was signed on 16 June 1933, the gold standard was suspended in March, and most countries began recovering in 1933. Wikipedia lists a shift in public expectations under Roosevelt as one explanation of the recovery.

What changed in the Great Depression years of 1934 to 1936?

The years 1934 to 1936 were a period of rule-making and recovery. The Securities Exchange Act was signed on 6 June 1934 and established the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Gold Reserve Act followed in 1934. Wikipedia places Social Security in the Second New Deal of 1935.

The Banking Act of 1935 completed the banking reforms and set deposit insurance coverage at $5,000. Those laws changed how the next downturn could unfold. Wikipedia also ties the later dip to the Banking Act of 1935, which raised reserve requirements and contributed to monetary contraction.

What was the second dip of the Great Depression years in 1937?

The recovery broke in mid-1937. The economy took a sharp downturn that lasted 13 months through most of 1938. Unemployment rose from 14.3% in May 1937 to 19.0% in June 1938, and industrial production declined almost 30 percent.

Wikipedia attributes the downturn to contractionary fiscal and monetary policy: spending cuts and tax increases pushed by the Treasury, and a tightening of the money supply in 1936 and 1937 that raised interest rates. Manufacturing output fell 37% from the 1937 peak, back to 1934 levels.

When did the Great Depression years end for the economy and the Dow?

The end of the Depression depends on the measure. Employment and output returned to full levels during World War II, according to the Federal Reserve History essay, and unemployment dropped to about 2% in the early 1940s. Wikipedia names 1939 as the end, with the outbreak of the war.

The stock market took longer than the economy. The Dow regained its September 1929 closing high only on 23 November 1954. As of October 2026 the lesson of the timeline is patience measured in years, not months. The EQOS Asia method and a 30-minute pre-diagnostic apply that horizon to your own exposure. This page is general information, not investment advice.

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About the author

Stéphane Jambu

President, EQOS Forecast Asia

Stéphane Jambu leads EQOS Forecast Asia and works as a consultant in e-commerce, search visibility, and AI. LinkedIn profile