The global stock-market crash caused by the COVID-19 shock began in 2020.
As the coronavirus spread internationally, governments introduced travel restrictions, business closures, and other measures that sharply reduced economic activity. Investors rapidly reassessed corporate earnings, supply chains, employment, and public health risks. Major stock indexes fell at exceptional speed during February and March.
The S&P 500 entered a bear market on March 12, 2020, and reached its pandemic-era low on March 23. Massive fiscal support, central-bank intervention, and hopes for vaccines then helped markets rebound.
The crash is sometimes described as a purely financial event, but its trigger was an external public-health emergency. That distinguishes it from crashes rooted primarily in banking failures, excessive valuations, or monetary instability, even though financial conditions amplified the shock.