GOVT’s worst drop since 2012 was 19%
iShares US Treasury Bond ETF (GOVT) fell 19% from Aug 2020 to Oct 2023. It has not closed above that Aug 2020 peak since, 6.2 years later. Over the same years the S&P 500 fell as much as 34%.
That drop is milder than most. It ranks 176th of the 203 ETFs PortfolioAutopsy tracks, counted from the deepest.
Drawdown from the last high, 2012 to now
How GOVT held up in each crash
| Crash | Years | GOVT | S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dot-com bust | 2000–02 | not trading yet | −47.5% |
| Financial crisis | 2007–09 | not trading yet | −55.2% |
| COVID crash | 2020 | −4.6% | −33.7% |
| 2022 rate shock | 2022 | −14.5% | −24.5% |
Each number is the deepest fall from a high inside that window, using daily prices with dividends reinvested.
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What was GOVT’s maximum drawdown?
GOVT’s deepest fall since 2012 was 19.1%, from its high on August 4, 2020 to its low on October 19, 2023. The figure uses daily prices with dividends reinvested.
How long did GOVT take to recover?
It has not recovered yet. As of October 13, 2026 it sits 9.0% below that Aug 2020 high.
Was GOVT riskier than the S&P 500?
Over the same years, GOVT’s worst drop was 19.1% against 33.7% for the S&P 500 (SPY), and its worst 12 months were −15.5% against −19.7%.
Compare with
Daily adjusted closes from Yahoo Finance, February 27, 2012 through October 13, 2026, dividends reinvested. Historical facts, not a forecast and not investment advice.