Global Risks Report 2026

the risk of military conflicts are exacerbating risks to supply chains across the world, with massive economic implications. In part because of the precarious fiscal positions of many leading economies (see Section 2.4: An economic reckoning), access to capital and control over capital flows could become a fresh front of geoeconomic confrontation. Governments could turn to more aggressive policies to shape the global monetary system to their advantage. Key financial infrastructure, such as payments systems, could be targeted by denying or constraining access. More frequent recourse to asset seizures or freezing of foreign reserves cannot be excluded. And governments and central banks are already expressing concern about how flows into foreign currency-pegged stablecoins could weaken their financial systems and jeopardize monetary sovereignty.10 Emerging market countries with soft currencies are especially vulnerable. Accumulated purchases of stablecoins from developing economies could amount to $1.22 trillion by the end of 2028, compared to about $173 billion as of October 2025.11 Efforts to bolster geopolitical positions through economic levers could go further still. Physical disruptions to critical infrastructure and key supply chains – for example by targeting satellite networks, damaging undersea communication cables, blocking or slowing transit through key waterways or ports, or disrupting energy pipelines – could become more frequently used physical or cyber- physical tools (see Section 2.5: Infrastructure endangered), in addition to cyberattacks. In response to these threats, more governments are likely to seek to protect their economies by building larger reserves of energy products and key manufacturing inputs, and by stockpiling food, metals and minerals. Efforts to acquire large quantities of the critical minerals needed for the energy transition12 could lead to price spikes and to intense commercial, diplomatic or even military pressures being placed on the governments of countries where these commodities can be sourced from. Direct and indirect interventions by major powers or conflicts between major global powers in resource-rich parts of the world are a rising risk. GRPS respondents point to these potential impacts: Disruptions to a systemically important supply chain, Concentration of strategic resources and technologies, Natural resource shortages, Economic downturn, and State- Edges Relative influence High LowMediumRisk influenceNodesOverview High LowMediumRisk categories Economic Environmental Geopolitical Societal Technological Decline in health and well-being Lack of economic opportunity or unemployment Inequality Misinformation and disinformation Debt Economic downturn Inflation Cyber insecurity Asset bubble burst Societal polarization Natural resource shortages Concentration of strategic resources and technologies Geoeconomic confrontation Disruptions to a systemically important supply chain Erosion of human rights and/or of civic freedoms Disruptions to critical infrastructure State-based armed conflict Decline in health and well-being Lack of economic opportunity or unemployment Inequality Misinformation and disinformation Debt Economic downturn Inflation Cyber insecurity Asset bubble burst Societal polarization Natural resource shortages Concentration of strategic resources and technologies Geoeconomic confrontation Disruptions to a systemically important supply chain Erosion of human rights and/or of civic freedoms Disruptions to critical infrastructure State-based armed conflictGlobal risks landscape: Geoeconomic confrontation FIGURE 26 Source World Economic Forum Global Risks Perception Survey 2025-2026 Global Risks Report 2026 28