A Look At Stock Market History

What Is The Oldest Stock Exchange In The World?

Summary: This page looks at the oldest stock exchanges and stock market history in the hope of providing some extra understanding of how the world economy once looked.

The first stock exchanges to be established around the world were:

1. Amsterdam Stock Exchange in 1602 in the city of Amsterdam, Netherlands.

2. Paris Bourse in 1724 in Paris, France.

3. Philadelphia Stock Exchange in 1790 in Philadelphia, United States.

4. London Stock Exchange in 1801 in London, England. However, a market had existed previously (with records beginning in 1698) at Jonathan's Coffee House , also in London.

5. Milan Stock Exchange in 1808 in Milan, Italy.

6. New York Stock Exchange in 1817 in New York, United States. This exchange was preceeded by the Buttonwood Agreement of 1792.

7. Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 1820 in Frankfurt, Germany. 1820 denotes the first records of shares being traded. There was, however, a market for bonds (debt instruments) since the late 18th century.

8. Bolsa de Madrid in 1831 in Madrid, Spain.

9. Toronto Stock Exchange in 1861 in Toronto, Canada.

10. Australian Stock Exchange in 1872 in Sydney, Australia.

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It may come as a surprise to the reader that some of the more important stock exchanges currently have quite short histories. For example:

Stock Exchange of Singapore - 1973

NASDAQ - 1971

Hong Kong Stock Exchange - 1891

Bovespa (Sao Paolo) - 1890

Click here to see the 10 largest stock exchanges in September 2005.

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