OriginaveFTSE Developed World Index
What the FTSE Developed World Index is, where it lives officially, and how its ride has looked over the years.
What does the FTSE Developed World Index track?
Around 2,000 large and mid-sized companies across roughly 25 developed countries, maintained by FTSE Russell — the FTSE family's answer to the MSCI World.
Same idea as the MSCI World (the rich world in one basket, no emerging markets), just a slightly wider net and FTSE's own country rules — most notably FTSE counts South Korea as developed while MSCI still calls it emerging. In practice the two track each other closely.
Every figure here is in pounds — what you'd actually pocket buying on the London Stock Exchange. Fund fact sheets usually headline returns in US dollars, which can look very different in years when the pound moves against the dollar. Here's the full story, year by year.
VHVG since 2019
The chart shows the dividend-adjusted share price of VHVG, the ETF tracking this index — not the raw index level. The shape of the ride is the same.
VHVG returns by year (USD)
| Year | Total return |
|---|---|
| 2026 (so far) | +12.47% |
| 2025 | +13.85% |
| 2024 | +19.99% |
| 2023 | +17.54% |
| 2022 | -8.16% |
| 2021 | +22.64% |
| 2020 | +12.56% |
| 2019 | -17.91% |
Calendar-year total returns of VHVG in USD, dividends reinvested — the ETF tracking this index, not the raw index level.
Compare VHVG head to head
Yearly returns side by side against the other funds we track.