Becton, Dickinson and Company

The graph below presents a comparison of cumulative total return to shareholders for the five-year period ended September 30, 2006 for BD, the S&P 500 Index, and the S&P 500 Health Care Equipment Index. The graph also presents the cumulative total return to shareholders during the same period for the peer group of companies, selected on a line-of-business basis (the “Peer Group”), that was used in the five-year performance graph included in last year’s proxy statement.

     Cumulative total return to shareholders is measured by dividing total dividends (assuming dividend reinvestment) plus per share price change for the period by the share price at the beginning of the measurement period. BD’s cumulative shareholder return is based on an investment of $100 on September 30, 2001 and is compared to the cumulative total return of the S&P 500 Index and the S&P 500 Health Care Equipment Index, and the weighted average performance of the Peer Group, over the same period with a like amount invested.

     The companies composing the Peer Group are Abbott Laboratories, Bausch & Lomb Inc., Baxter International Inc., Beckman Coulter, Inc., Boston Scientific Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, Inc., St. Jude Medical, Inc. and Stryker Corporation. Guidant Corporation had been included in the group in last year’s proxy statement, but is not included in the graph below because it was acquired by Boston Scientific Corporation. We elected to use the S&P Health Care Equipment Index for the 2006 and future proxy statements rather than the Peer Groups, since we prefer to have our shareholder returns measured against a published index prepared by an independent third party rather than an index constructed by management.

COMPARISON OF 5-YEAR CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN AMONG BECTON, DICKINSON AND COMPANY, THE S&P 500 INDEX, THE S&P HEALTH CARE EQUIPMENT INDEX AND THE PEER GROUP^*