Global dividends rose 3.5% in 2019 to a new record of 1.43 trillion dollars (1.32 trillion euros), according to the Janus Henderson Investors Global Dividend Index. Dividend growth in Europe lagged other markets.
Since 2009, total dividend pay-outs have almost doubled, according to the asset manager. This means that investors received 694 billion dollars more in dividends in 2019 than ten years earlier. Average annual dividend growth amounted to 7%. In total, global companies have distributed 11.4 trillion dollars to their shareholders over the past ten years.
2019 was the fourth year in a row that dividends reached record levels, and Janus Henderson expects dividend growth to continue. For this year, the asset manager expects underlying dividend growth of 4%, delivering a total of 1.48 trillion dollars in dividends.
Europe is lagging
While North America, emerging markets and Japan showed above-average dividend growth, Europe and the United Kingdom lagged behind.
European dividend growth has been slower than in any other region over the past decade, but given the already high level of dividends there has been less room for growth anyway.
Growth was strongest in the Netherlands and Italy, but France was the only European country to set a new record. Belgium saw the biggest decline in dividend payments, because of a sharp dividend cut by brewing company AB Inbev.
Oil sector
At sector level, the oil sector showed the highest dividend growth, at 10%. Over the past 10 years, technology dividends have risen fastest, quadrupling since 2009. Telecoms and utility dividends, on the other hand, have not grown at all.