Our Dividend Watch analyses global equity trends by tracking the world’s largest 1,600 companies, focusing on dividend growth and dividend yield across regions and sectors.
The report looks beyond short-term market fluctuations to offer a 15-year perspective on dividend investing, focusing on the fundamentals of where companies are generating capital and how they are returning it to shareholders.
Discover the latest findings from Dividend Watch Edition 3
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Global dividends jumped 7.0% to a record $2.09T in 2025; core dividend growth hit 6.0%.
Q4 delivered 5.9% core dividend growth and a record‑breaking $428bn in payouts.
Growth was broad‑based across regions and sectors.
Financials and tech led gains; mining, autos and energy pulled back.
Japan topped global growth, while Australia, China and the UK lagged.
2026 dividends forecast to reach $2.20T (+5.4% topline; +5.7% core).
All information as at 31 December 2025 and attributed to Capital Group, unless otherwise stated. Data supplied by Exchange Data International, supplemented by insight from company sources such as annual reports and results announcements and FactSet. FX data is also sourced from FactSet.
Dividend growth has been calculated in US dollars and is illustrated using indexed charts rebased to 100 inQ4 2010. All growth rates quoted in the text are year-on-year unless otherwise stated.