The Financial Times Stock Exchange 250 Index, also called the FTSE 250 Index, FTSE 250, or, informally, the "Footsie 250" , is a stock market index that consists of the 101st to the 350th mid-cap blue chip companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Description The index consists of 11 ICB sectors, three of which had a market capitalisation exceeding £25 billion as at 31 March 2026. These are Financials, Industrials and Consumer Discretionary, which together account for approximately 74% of the index's market capitalisation. On the same date, five companies had a market capitalisation exceeding £3 billion: Balfour Beatty, Aberdeen Group, Investec, Taylor Wimpey and Johnson Matthey, together accounting for approximately 6% of the index's market capitalisation.
Each calendar quarter, the FTSE 250's constituents are reviewed and some companies exit or enter the index, resulting in irregular trading volume and price changes as market participants rebalance their portfolios.
Related indices are the FTSE 100 Index (which lists the largest 100 companies), the FTSE 350 Index (which combines the FTSE 100 and 250), the FTSE SmallCap Index and the FTSE All-Share Index (an aggregation of the FTSE 100 Index, the FTSE 250 Index and the FTSE SmallCap Index).
Record values The index began on 12 October 1992 at 2,403, with a market capitalisation of £98 billion. It closed at 24,250.80 on 1 September 2021, a level it did not surpass until 4 August 2026, when it set a new record high.
Annual changes The following table lists the annual changes in the FTSE 250 index. Year Price only return(excludes dividends received by shareholders) 1994 −7.64% 1995 14.84% 1996 11.67% 1997 6.62% 1998 1.40% 1999 32.75% 2000 1.59% 2001 −9.29% 2002 −27.27% 2003 34.40% 2004 19.49% 2005 26.78% 2006 27.10% 2007 −4.65% 2008 −40.32% 2009 46.3% 2010 24.2%2011 −12.6%201222.5%201328.8%20140.9%20158.4%20163.7%201714.7%2018 −15.6%201925.0%2020 −6.2%202114.6%2022 −19.7%20234.4%20245.69%20258.96%
While the FTSE 250 had no retail products prior to its 1992 inception date, in the 1990s the index returns were back-calculated to 1986. Indicative values as follows:
Year Price only Total return198628.7%33.4%19878.6%13.3%198810.2%15.4%198921.6%26.7%1990−20.1%−15.8%199111.9%17.4%199221.1%26.3%199332.4%37.5%1994−7.6%−4.4%199514.8%19.1%199611.7%15.7%19976.6%10.6%19981.4%4.0%199932.8%36.4%20001.6%3.9%2001−9.3%−6.8%2002−27.3%−24.8%200334.3%38.6%200419.6%22.9%200526.8%30.3%200627.1%30.2%2007−4.7%−2.8%2008−40.3%−37.5%200946.3%50.0%201024.2%26.9%2011−12.6%−9.9%201222.5%25.5%201328.8%31.7%20140.9%3.7%20158.4%11.2%20163.7%6.5%201714.7%17.7%2018−15.6%−12.7%201925.0%28.7%2020−6.4%−4.2%202114.6%16.8%2022−19.7%−17.1%20234.6%8.0%
Constituents The following table lists the FTSE 250 companies after the changes on 1 October 2026.