The Dow Jones Industrial Average entered a bear market during the 2020 COVID-19 market crash on March 11, 2020.
A bear market is commonly defined as a decline of at least 20% from a recent closing high. The Dow had reached a record close on February 12, 2020, but fears about the coronavirus, travel restrictions, business shutdowns, and economic disruption then drove a rapid sell-off.
On March 11, the World Health Organization characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic, while financial markets continued to deteriorate. The Dow reached its 2020 closing low on March 23 before recovering strongly. Emergency monetary policy, fiscal support, and later vaccine developments influenced the recovery, but the market shock was initially among the fastest major bear markets on record.