Global Risks Report 2025

Last year, two economic risks – Inflation and Economic downturn (recession, stagnation) – were new entrants in the top 10 ranking. Concerns around both have since subsided; in this year’s two-year risk ranking, there are no economic risks in the top 10. Inflation, which was #7 last year, has fallen to #29, with a similar decline for Economic downturn, which was #9 last year and is now #19. No stakeholder group selected either Inflation or Economic downturn as a top 10 risk, although there is ongoing concern about Debt among government stakeholders (at #7), and Crime and illicit economic activity among international organizations, private-sector and government respondents (#6, #7 and #8, respectively). Across stakeholders in the aggregate, however, there are some sharp upticks in economic risk perceptions, with Crime and illicit economic activity increasing 17 positions to #11, and Concentration of strategic resources at #12, up 12 positions from last year. This overall mixed picture for economic risk perceptions is not mirrored in societal risk perceptions, which have risen and feature prominently in the two-year risk landscape. Inequality (wealth, income) is #7 and Societal polarization is even higher, at #4. Involuntary Adverse outcomes of AI technologies Adverse outcomes of frontier technologies Asset bubble burst Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse Biological, chemical or nuclear weapons or hazards Censorship and surveillance Concentration of strategic resources and technologies Crime and illicit economic activity Critical change to Earth systems Cyber espionage and warfare Debt Decline in health and well-being Disruptions to a systemically important supply chain Disruptions to critical infrastructure Economic downturn Erosion of human rights and/or civic freedoms Extreme weather events Geoeconomic confrontation Inequality Infectious diseases Inflation Insufficient public infrastructure and social protections Intrastate violence Involuntary migration or displacement Lack of economic opportunity or unemployment Misinformation and disinformation Natural resource shortages Non-weather-related natural disasters Online harms Pollution Societal polarization State-based armed conflict Talent and/or labour shortages Concentration of strategic resources and technologies Adverse outcomes of AI technologies Adverse outcomes of frontier technologies Asset bubble burst Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse Biological, chemical or nuclear weapons or hazards Censorship and surveillance Crime and illicit economic activity Critical change to Earth systems Cyber espionage and warfare Debt Decline in health and well-being Disruptions to a systemically important supply chain Disruptions to critical infrastructure Economic downturn Erosion of human rights and/or civic freedoms Extreme weather events Geoeconomic confrontation Inequality Infectious diseases Inflation Insufficient public infrastructure and social protections Intrastate violence Involuntary migration or displacement Lack of economic opportunity or unemployment Misinformation and disinformation Natural resource shortages Non-weather-related natural disasters Online harms Pollution Societal polarization State-based armed conflict Talent and/or labour shortages Global risks landscape: An interconnections map FIGURE 1.8 Source World Economic Forum Global RisksPerception Survey 2024-2025Edges Relative influence High LowMediumRisk influenceNodes High LowMedium Risk categories Economic Environmental Geopolitical Societal Technological Global Risks Report 2025 18