If a share index rises 7% in a year and pays a 4% dividend yield, the price return is 7% and the total return is about 11%.
Most quoted index levels are price indices. Total-return indices assume dividends are reinvested.
Why it matters
For Australian shares, dividends (and franking credits) have been a large part of long-run returns, so comparing price returns alone understates them against assets that pay nothing, such as gold or Bitcoin.
On FinVolio
Performance tables show price returns and say so.
General information, not advice.