unilateralism taking hold in national security considerations and highlights the worsening humanitarian impacts of the ongoing conflicts. The risk of further destabilizing consequences following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as in the Middle East and in Sudan are likely to be amplifying respondents’ concerns beyond 2025 as well. In the two-year outlook, State-based armed conflict has moved up from #5 to #3 since our GRPS 2023-24 (Figure C). Section 1.4: Supercharged economic tensions explores how global geoeconomic tensions could unfold. The rise in the two-year ranking of Geoeconomic confrontation, from #14 last year to #9 today reflects unease about the path ahead for global economic relations. The role of technology in geopolitical tensions also concerns respondents, with Cyber espionage and warfare ranked #5 in the two-year outlook. However, the top risk in 2027 is Misinformation and disinformation, for the second year in a row (Figure C). There are many ways in which a proliferation of false or misleading content is complicating the geopolitical environment. It is a leading mechanism for foreign entities to affect voter intentions; it can sow doubt among the general public worldwide about what is happening in conflict zones; or it can be used to tarnish the image of products or services from another country. A growing sense of societal fragmentation Societal fractures are central to the overall risks landscape, as shown in the risk interconnections map (Figure D). Inequality (wealth, income) is perceived as the most central risk of all, playing a significant role in both triggering and being influenced by other risks. It is contributing to weakening trust and diminishing our collective sense of shared values. As well as Inequality, other societal risks also feature in the top 10 of the two-year ranking: Societal polarization, Involuntary migration or displacement and Erosion of human rights and/ or civic freedoms. The importance ascribed to this set of societal risks by respondents suggests that social stability will be fragile over the next two years. Respondent concern around certain key economic risks – Economic downturn and Inflation – has subsided since last year, with these two risks witnessing the largest falls in the two-year ranking (Figure 1.5). Nonetheless, the impacts of the cost- of-living crisis since 2022 contributed to Inequality becoming the top interconnected risk this year: Economic downturn, Inflation, and Debt were selected among the top causes of Inequality by GRPS respondents. Although there are fewer societal risks in the top 10 of the 10-year risk ranking than in the top 10 of the two-year risk ranking (two compared to four, see Figure C), the profound societal fractures that feature prominently in this report should not be perceived as solely short-term risks. Looking ahead to the next decade, Inequality and Societal polarization continue to feature among the top 10 risks. This is an important pair of risks to watch, given how related they can be to bouts of social instability, and in turn to domestic political and to geostrategic volatility. In super-ageing societies – such as Japan, South Korea, Italy or Germany – unfavourable demographic trends could accentuate these risks over the next 10 years. Pensions crises and labour shortages in the long-term care Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse Global risks ranked by severity over the short and long term FIGURE C Source World Economic Forum Global Risks Perception Survey 2024-2025."Please estimate the likely impact (severity) of the following risks over a 2-year and 10-year period." 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 2 years 10 years Extreme weather events Critical change to Earth systems Natural resource shortages Misinformation and disinformation Adverse outcomes of AI technologies Inequality Cyber espionage and warfare Societal polarization Pollution 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Misinformation and disinformation Extreme weather events Societal polarization Cyber espionage and warfare State-based armed conﬂict Inequality Involuntary migration or displacement Erosion of human rights and/or civic freedoms Geoeconomic confrontation Pollution Risk categories Economic Environmental Geopolitical Societal Technological Global Risks Report 2025 8