tool · Performance & testing
Drawdown Recovery Calculator: Loss and Required Gain
A percentage loss is measured from the previous peak, while recovery is measured from the smaller remaining amount. This calculator shows both denominators so the difference is clear.
Key points
- A 20% drawdown requires a 25% gain from the reduced base.
- Deposits and withdrawals can distort a simple peak-to-current comparison.
- Zero remaining equity has no finite percentage recovery without new capital.
Drawdown recovery calculator
The starting numbers are illustrative inputs. Replace them with a consistent scenario. Calculations run in your browser; no account connection or live market data is used.
Formula and boundaries
Drawdown = (peak − current) ÷ peak. Gain needed from current = (peak ÷ current − 1) × 100.
- Peak and current equity must use the same currency and exclude deposits/withdrawals that would distort the comparison.
- The result is a mathematical recovery requirement, not a forecast or a reason to increase risk.
- At zero current equity, a finite percentage return cannot restore the original peak without new capital.
Use the same equity definition at both points
Enter a previous equity peak and the current equity in the same currency. The peak must be positive and current equity cannot exceed it for this drawdown calculation. Equity and balance are different series when positions remain open; comparing a balance peak with current marked equity mixes definitions. MetaTrader distinguishes balance and equity drawdown statistics.
The tool subtracts current equity from the peak to find the shortfall. Drawdown percentage divides the shortfall by the peak. Recovery percentage divides the same shortfall by current equity. That second denominator is smaller during a drawdown, so the required percentage is larger.
Check a complete worked example
Suppose an account's consistently measured equity peak was 12,000 units and the comparable current value is 9,000, with no intervening cash flows. The shortfall is 3,000. The drawdown is 3,000 ÷ 12,000 = 25%. The gain required from the remaining base is 3,000 ÷ 9,000, approximately 33.3333%.
A 25% gain on 9,000 would add only 2,250, bringing equity to 11,250 rather than 12,000. This is why reversing the sign of a drawdown percentage does not describe recovery. The distinction follows from arithmetic and does not depend on the instrument traded or the broker used.
Inspect the changing denominator
At a 10,000 peak and 8,000 current value, recovery is 25%. At the same peak and 5,000 current value, recovery is 100%. At 1,000 current value, recovery is 900%. These examples demonstrate the nonlinear relationship between lost capital and the percentage needed to restore it. They are not targets or reasons to increase position size.
If current equity is zero, the calculator returns “No finite percentage.” Multiplying zero by a finite growth factor still gives zero. Negative equity is outside this interface's domain and needs a different account-liability analysis. If current equity exceeds the entered peak, update the peak instead of treating the negative difference as a drawdown.
What a pair of equity values leaves out
This is a two-point calculation, not a maximum-drawdown search over a full time series. It does not reveal how long the account stayed below its peak, the worst intraday value or the sequence of wins and losses. A report sampled only at daily close can miss a deeper intraday trough.
Cash flows also matter. A withdrawal can lower account equity without being a trading loss, while a deposit can restore the nominal peak without recovering performance. Maintain a cash-flow-adjusted series when measuring returns, and preserve the raw ledger alongside it. When comparing copied accounts, align timestamps, valuation rules and external transfers before interpreting different percentages. The calculator explains a recovery requirement under clean assumptions; it cannot predict the time or likelihood of achieving it.
Questions and answers
Why is recovery greater than the drawdown?
Drawdown uses the original peak as its denominator. Recovery uses the smaller remaining equity, so the same monetary shortfall represents a larger percentage.
Does this find maximum drawdown from a trade history?
No. It compares the two equity values you enter. Finding maximum drawdown requires a consistently sampled, cash-flow-aware equity series.
Sources and further checks
Use the current source for your exact instrument, account and platform. Referencing a general specification does not establish support for every TradeCopier workflow.
- MetaTrader 5: testing report definitions · Checked September 19, 2026
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