Drawdown recovery table: the gain needed to recover a loss
To recover a loss of d, you need a gain of 1 ÷ (1 − d) − 1 on what
remains: a 10% loss needs 11.11%, a 30% loss needs 42.86%, and a 50% loss needs
100%. The gain is always larger than the loss, because it is earned on a
smaller balance.
This page is the lookup table, for anyone who wants the number for a specific drawdown without deriving it. Below the table are the reverse lookup — what loss a given gain undoes — and the reason the shape of the table is the strongest arithmetic case for capping how much you can lose in a day. For a single figure on your own numbers, the drawdown recovery calculator does the same computation.
The full table
| Loss | Gain to recover | Balance must grow by | Gain per point of loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1% | 1.01% | 1.010× | 1.01 |
| 2% | 2.04% | 1.020× | 1.02 |
| 3% | 3.09% | 1.031× | 1.03 |
| 5% | 5.26% | 1.053× | 1.05 |
| 7.5% | 8.11% | 1.081× | 1.08 |
| 10% | 11.11% | 1.111× | 1.11 |
| 12.5% | 14.29% | 1.143× | 1.14 |
| 15% | 17.65% | 1.176× | 1.18 |
| 20% | 25.00% | 1.250× | 1.25 |
| 25% | 33.33% | 1.333× | 1.33 |
| 30% | 42.86% | 1.429× | 1.43 |
| 35% | 53.85% | 1.538× | 1.54 |
| 40% | 66.67% | 1.667× | 1.67 |
| 45% | 81.82% | 1.818× | 1.82 |
| 50% | 100.00% | 2.000× | 2.00 |
| 55% | 122.22% | 2.222× | 2.22 |
| 60% | 150.00% | 2.500× | 2.50 |
| 65% | 185.71% | 2.857× | 2.86 |
| 70% | 233.33% | 3.333× | 3.33 |
| 75% | 300.00% | 4.000× | 4.00 |
| 80% | 400.00% | 5.000× | 5.00 |
| 85% | 566.67% | 6.667× | 6.67 |
| 90% | 900.00% | 10.000× | 10.00 |
| 95% | 1,900.00% | 20.000× | 20.00 |
The last column is the required gain divided by the loss. It is also equal to
the multiple in the third column, which is a neat way to remember the table:
every percentage point lost costs 1 ÷ (1 − d) points to win back.
Where the formula comes from
After a loss d, the balance is 1 − d of what it was. To return to the
starting level you need a gain g such that:
(1 − d) × (1 + g) = 1
g = 1 ÷ (1 − d) − 1 = d ÷ (1 − d)The two forms are the same thing. The second is the one on the calculator page; the first makes the multiple in the table’s third column explicit. Nothing in it depends on how the loss happened — one trade, a streak, or fees — only on its size relative to the balance.
Reading the table in three zones
Up to about 10%, recovery is roughly linear. A 5% loss needs 5.26%. The difference between the loss and the recovery is small enough to ignore for most purposes.
From 20% to 50%, it bends. Each point lost costs 1.25 points at 20% and 2 points at 50%. This is the range where drawdowns start to change what an account can realistically do, and where the table is most often looked up.
Past 50%, it runs away. The denominator 1 − d approaches zero, so the
required gain grows without limit: 150% at 60%, 400% at 80%, 900% at 90%. Moving
from a 50% to a 70% drawdown is 20 more points of loss and 133 more points of
required gain.
The reverse lookup
Sometimes the question runs the other way: a gain of g undoes a loss of
g ÷ (1 + g).
| Gain | Loss it undoes |
|---|---|
| 10% | 9.09% |
| 20% | 16.67% |
| 25% | 20.00% |
| 50% | 33.33% |
| 100% | 50.00% |
A related case: a loss of x followed by a gain of the same x leaves you down
x². Down 10% then up 10% leaves you 1% short; 30% and 30% leaves 9% short; 50%
and 50% leaves 25% short. The
compounding calculator shows the same
asymmetry for a sequence of equal returns, and
sequence of returns risk covers why the
order of gains and losses matters once deposits or withdrawals are involved.
Why this is the case for a daily loss limit
The table says nothing about how drawdowns happen. What it does say is that the cost of a loss is not proportional to its size, and that the first part of the curve is nearly flat. A daily loss limit is a way of keeping each day’s damage in the flat part of the table.
Two consequences follow.
Individual bad days stay cheap. A day stopped at 5% needs 5.26% to undo; a day allowed to run to 15% needs 17.65%. The limit keeps each day’s recovery requirement close to the size of the loss itself.
Reaching a deep drawdown takes many limited days, not one. The number of
consecutive days at a limit L needed to reach a total drawdown D is
log(1 − D) ÷ log(1 − L). With illustrative limits — examples to show the
arithmetic, not suggested settings:
| Daily limit | Days to −20% | Days to −30% | Days to −50% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1% | 22.2 | 35.5 | 69.0 |
| 2% | 11.0 | 17.7 | 34.3 |
| 3% | 7.3 | 11.7 | 22.8 |
| 5% | 4.4 | 7.0 | 13.5 |
| 10% | 2.1 | 3.4 | 6.6 |
A limit does not prevent a drawdown. It turns one event into a series of separate days, each ending with a stop and a fresh decision, and it gives you time to notice before the table’s steep section is reached. Where to set it depends on your risk per trade and your losing-streak profile, which is the subject of designing a daily loss limit and risk per trade vs risk per day.
How this table differs from other drawdown questions
This page answers one question: how much gain does a given loss require. The neighbouring questions are different and have their own pages:
- How likely is a drawdown of this size? That depends on win rate, risk per trade and streak length — see losing streak probability and risk of ruin.
- What does a drawdown say about a strategy? Time underwater and the shape of the recovery matter as much as depth — see reading an equity curve honestly.
What the table leaves out
Time. The table gives the size of the recovery, not how long it takes. With fixed-fractional sizing, positions shrink after a drawdown, so the same number of winning trades produces a smaller dollar gain and recovery takes longer than the percentage alone suggests.
Costs. Fees and funding continue while you recover, so the gross gain needed is higher than the table’s net figure — see fee drag over a year.
Behaviour. The steepness of the table is exactly what makes sizing up after a loss tempting, and sizing up during a drawdown is how moderate drawdowns become deep ones — see why traders oversize.
FAQ
How much do I need to gain to recover a 30% loss?
42.86%. After a 30% loss the balance is 70% of where it started, and 70% must grow by a factor of 1 ÷ 0.7, about 1.429, to return to 100%. The general formula is gain = 1 ÷ (1 − loss) − 1.
Why does a 50% loss need a 100% gain?
Because the gain is earned on the reduced balance. Losing half leaves 50, and getting from 50 back to 100 means doubling it, which is a 100% gain. The same logic makes every recovery larger than the loss that caused it, with the gap widening as the loss grows.
Is there a quick rule of thumb for recovery?
For small losses, the gain needed is roughly the loss itself — within about a point up to 10%. Beyond that, divide the loss by what remains: a 25% loss needs 25 ÷ 75, or 33.3%. Above 50%, the required gain is more than double the loss and climbs steeply.
Does a daily loss limit reduce the gain I need to recover?
It limits how much any single day can add to the required recovery, keeping each day’s loss in the part of the table where recovery is close to the loss itself. It does not stop a drawdown from accumulating over many days, but it spreads it across separate decisions rather than letting one day produce it.