While global dividends have increased by 43.2 per cent, or by $310 billion, since 2009, they grew just 2.8 per cent during 2013, the smallest increase since 2009.
The fourth quarter saw the weakest growth, with dividends declining for the first time since 2010.
Henderson said the main reason for the fall in this quarter was a sharp fall in payments in the US as the trend of special dividend payments paid in the 2012 fourth quarter did not continue in 2013.
Adverse timing changes and minor falls in some sectors also contributed to the decline.
The index report also shows lower dividend growth has been particularly evident among emerging markets.
While dividend growth doubled between 2009 and 2011, this growth slowed significantly in 2012 and 2013 due to lower currencies and the commodity cycle ending.
Dividends in the Asia-Pacific region have grown 79 per cent in US dollar terms since 2009, with Australia a strong contributor to this figure, increasing its dividends by 89 per cent.
Meanwhile, Europe remains the second largest region in terms of dividend income after North America. Scandinavia and Germany had the best performance in the past five years, while countries badly affected by the euro crisis are returning considerably less to shareholders than they were five years ago.
The US is the largest source of dividend income, accounting for one third of the world’s dividend payments and having increased its dividend payments by 49 per cent in the past five years.
Henderson’s head of global equity income, Alex Crooke, said the five-year period of dividend research shows the major global economic events and trends.
“The rise of emerging markets, and their cooling, the inflation of the commodity bubble and its subsequent deflation, the eurozone crisis and the US resurgence from the recession are all there to be seen,” said Mr Crooke.
“It also shows how areas that rank low in free-float terms, especially emerging markets, are actually generating large amounts of income, often because governments with big stakes mandate generous payouts.”
