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Drawdown recovery calculator
Short answer: After a loss you need a bigger percentage gain to get back to where you were. A 20% drawdown needs a 25% gain, a 50% drawdown needs a 100% gain. Enter a drawdown below to see the gain you need.
How is the recovery gain calculated?
The formula is required gain = 1 ÷ (1 − drawdown) − 1. The gain is earned on a smaller balance than the one you lost from, which is why recovery is always harder than the loss itself. You can read more in drawdown explained.
Drawdown recovery table
| Drawdown | Gain needed to recover |
|---|---|
| 5% | 5.3% |
| 10% | 11.1% |
| 20% | 25% |
| 30% | 42.9% |
| 40% | 66.7% |
| 50% | 100% |
| 75% | 300% |
| 90% | 900% |
What does this mean for copy trading?
When you compare strategies, look at the maximum drawdown next to the gain. A strategy with a smaller drawdown needs less to recover after a bad period. Always assume future drawdowns can be larger than the past ones.
Frequently asked questions
What gain do I need after a 20% loss?
You need a 25% gain. A $1,000 account that drops 20% is worth $800, and $800 needs to grow by $200, which is 25%, to get back to $1,000.
Why is recovering a loss harder than the loss itself?
Because the gain is calculated on a smaller balance. The deeper the drawdown, the faster the required gain grows: 50% needs 100% and 75% needs 300%.
What is a good maximum drawdown for a strategy?
There is no safe number. Compare drawdown with the return and with how much loss you can personally accept, and assume future drawdowns may be larger.
Educational calculator, not investment advice. Results are illustrations, not forecasts. Leveraged Forex and CFD trading involves a high risk of loss; you can lose your entire trading balance. Past performance does not guarantee future results. If you copy the strategy you pay a 25% performance fee on new profit only; RoboForex pays us a referral commission at no extra cost to you.