The global stock-market crash associated with the 1973 oil crisis began in 1973.
The downturn followed a combination of inflation, slowing economic growth, monetary tightening, and geopolitical stress. The October 1973 Yom Kippur War prompted Arab members of OPEC to impose an oil embargo on countries supporting Israel. Oil prices rose sharply, intensifying inflation and weakening economies that depended on imported energy.
Major equity markets continued falling into 1974. In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached its low for the episode in December 1974, after losing nearly half its value from its January 1973 high. Britain and other markets also suffered severe declines.
The crash is often described as a bear market lasting from 1973 to 1974 rather than as one single trading-day collapse. It also overlapped with the period of “stagflation,” when high inflation occurred alongside weak growth and unemployment.