2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2021 20230100200300400500Total economic losses (billion $, inﬂation-adjusted)Rising economic losses from natural disasters FIGURE 45 Source World Economic Forum, based on data from EM-DAT , The International Disaster Database.Annual losses 5-year moving average lossesnew infrastructure as well as on maintenance or retrofitting will be required. Where technological obsolescence of existing infrastructure makes it too difficult to align with and connect to advanced technologies, complete overhauls may be needed. Efforts to make critical infrastructure more resilient over the last two decades have placed a heavy emphasis on handling potential terrorist attacks.83 While still an important consideration, additional fundamental concerns are emerging, such as corrosion of piping, cracks in concrete structures or shifting of foundations, as well as inadequate slack in systems. It is not far-fetched, for example, to envisage a scenario in which the quality or supply of drinking water in an OECD country becomes compromised due to accidental systemic failures resulting from maintenance issues. Such risks can build silently in the absence of adequate monitoring, and sudden problems or collapses can occur. When they do, the costs to operators or governments of urgent fixes or workarounds, as well as responding to liability claims and reputational damage, can be huge. When much of the existing infrastructure in the OECD was built 50-70 years ago, the risk landscape was different. Today, mass urbanization, rising traffic, much higher data transmission and storage requirements, climate-change impacts, and the weaponization of infrastructure in hybrid warfare are priority considerations. Over the next decade, the focus will need to shift towards managing and mitigating more complex threats,84 including managing the higher costs of energy and key materials as the top barrier to greening infrastructure.85 In addition, talent and/or labour shortages are likely to slow efforts to modernize critical infrastructure. The retirement of the baby-boomer generation is leading to a significant loss of expertise. This relates to maintenance and upgrading, but also to future infrastructure building. For example, while today nuclear power is being embraced by many governments as a critical source of baseload power, with significant buildout plans being announced, the size of the experienced workforce for the nuclear sector in many countries is very limited, given that over several decades only a small number of new nuclear reactors have been built outside of China.86 As of October 2025, of only 64 nuclear reactors under construction worldwide, 33 were in China. Similarly, 63% of data-centre executives cite a shortage of skilled labour as their top challenge.87 Climate costs Modern economies’ critical infrastructure is becoming increasingly vulnerable to both chronic climate risks, such as sea-level rises, and acute extreme weather events, including extreme heat, forest fires, floods and storms. Economic losses from natural disasters are steadily rising (Figure 45). For example, extreme heat can place energy grids under strain because of spiking use of air conditioning, or cause rail and roads to melt or buckle. Solar panels can become less efficient in extreme temperatures, or become damaged by hail, with hailstorms becoming more intense over time.88 Many buildings need adaptation in the face of more frequent and more intense heatwaves,89 Global Risks Report 2026 49