Nifty Pharma Historical Returns
The Nifty Pharma index tracks Indian pharmaceutical companies, many of them large exporters of generic medicines. Figures come from the NAV of a fund that tracks it, so returns include dividends and are after fund costs.
Price history
Month-end values. Hover a year-end point for its value.
About Nifty Pharma
The Nifty Pharma index tracks Indian pharmaceutical companies, many of them large exporters of generic medicines.
What it means for investors. Pharma has often been called a defensive sector because medicine demand is steady, but regulatory action and US pricing have caused long sector-specific falls.
Returns over time
| Series | 1Y | 3Y | 5Y | 10Y | 15Y | 20Y | Max fall | Data to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nifty Pharma | 13.1% | 19.8% | 13.2% | n/a | n/a | n/a | −21% | 23 Oct 2026 |
Annualised (CAGR) for periods of a year or more, ending on each series' latest date. “n/a” means the series does not go back that far. Max fall: the largest fall from a previous peak over the whole history.
AMFI NAV history (daily NAV file; earlier history via mfapi.in, which republishes AMFI NAVs), stored and cleaned by MFIC. Proxy: Nippon India Nifty Pharma ETF (total return after fund costs (proxy)). Data 6 Jul 2021 to 23 Oct 2026. Latest level: NSE daily index closing values. Returns use the fund NAV history, which includes dividends.
Mutual funds linked to Nifty Pharma
MFIC groups that invest in this market, with medians for each group (medians across open-ended schemes, regular plans (etfs for etf categories), growth option, from amfi navs; NAVs as of 23 Oct 2026).
| Fund group | Link | Schemes | 1Y median | 3Y CAGR median | 5Y CAGR median | Ahead of benchmark TRI, 3Y |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Equity ETF: Sector: Healthcare & pharma (ETFs) | Track this market | 8 | +3.0% | +18.4% | +12.9% | – |
| Index Fund: Sector: Healthcare & pharma | Track this market | 5 | +6.5% | +18.6% | n/a | – |
| Sectoral/Thematic: Healthcare & pharma | Main market of active funds | 19 | +6.8% | +18.3% | +13.5% | 2 of 11 |
Groups follow AMFI categories; theme groups are MFIC's own grouping from scheme names. "Ahead of benchmark TRI" compares each scheme's 3-year return with its own benchmark's total return index as published by AMFI; it is not shown for index funds and ETFs, which aim to match their index. Listed by how closely the group follows this market, not ranked. Open a group for every scheme in it.
Calendar-year returns
| Year | Return |
|---|---|
| 2026 to 23 Oct | 11.9% |
| 2025 | −2.5% |
| 2024 | 39.6% |
| 2023 | 34.4% |
| 2022 | −10.9% |
| 2021 part year | −1.0% |
Over 4 complete calendar years since 2022, Nifty Pharma rose in 2. Best: 2024 (+39.6%). Worst: 2022 (−10.9%).
Year-end to year-end, from AMFI NAV history (daily NAV file; earlier history via mfapi.in, which republishes AMFI NAVs), stored and cleaned by MFIC.
Falls from peak and recovery
| Peak | Bottom | Fall | Months down | Back to peak | Months to recover | Events in the fall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2024 | Feb 2025 | −16.6% | 5 | May 2026 | 14 | — |
| Oct 2021 | Mar 2023 | −21.0% | 17 | Jul 2023 | 4 | Russia–Ukraine war begins; RBI off-cycle rate hike |
Each fall of 10% or more from a previous high, measured on daily data. The 2 deepest are shown. “Back to peak” is the first date it regained the previous high.
Rolling returns: the range of outcomes
| Holding period | Periods | Median | Worst | Best | Middle half | Positive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 51 | 14.1% | −11.0% | 62.6% | −2.2% to 29.8% | 73% |
| 3 years | 27 | 20.2% | 15.4% | 25.6% | 18.3% to 22.2% | 100% |
Every holding period starting at a month-end in the history (overlapping). Annualised for periods over a year.
How it has moved with other assets
| Compared with | Correlation | Months |
|---|---|---|
| Nifty 50 | 0.56 | 62 |
| Gold (domestic, ₹) | −0.20 | 62 |
| 10-year G-Sec (bond fund) | 0.36 | 62 |
| USD/INR | −0.37 | 62 |
| Nifty Bank | 0.33 | 62 |
| Nifty PSU Bank | 0.28 | 62 |
Correlation of monthly returns over the months both series have: +1 moves together, 0 unrelated, −1 opposite. Relationships change over time.
Nifty Pharma and the Nifty 50, year by year
| Year | Nifty Pharma | Nifty 50 |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 to 23 Oct | 11.9% | −12.9% |
| 2025 | −2.5% | 11.6% |
| 2024 | 39.6% | 9.6% |
| 2023 | 34.4% | 20.9% |
| 2022 | −10.9% | 5.3% |
| 2021 part year | −1.0% | 25.2% |
Fund NAVs (AMFI), after fund costs.
Questions
- What has Nifty Pharma returned over the long run?
- Calculated from Nippon India Nifty Pharma ETF, Nifty Pharma returned 13.2% a year over the 5 years to 23 Oct 2026, and 19.8% a year over 3 years. Past returns do not indicate future returns.
- What was the biggest fall in Nifty Pharma?
- In the data available from Jul 2021, the largest fall from a previous peak was −21.0%, from Oct 2021 to Mar 2023, and it regained the peak in Jul 2023 (4 months after the bottom). There were 2 falls of 10% or more, 1 of them 20% or more.
- How often has Nifty Pharma been positive over one year?
- Across 51 one-year periods starting at month-ends, 73% were positive; the range was −11.0% to 62.6%.
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