Global Risks Report 2026

We would like to thank over 160 experts, including from the Global Risks Report Advisory Board, the Chief Risk Officers Community, as well as Forum C-suite communities and staff from across its eleven thematic Centres, whose insights have shaped this report. We would also like to express our gratitude to the core team that developed the report - Mark Elsner and Grace Atkinson - and to Mitali Chatterjee, Ricky Li and Eoin Ó Cathasaigh for their support. As the Global Risks Report enters its 21st year, one lesson endures: cooperation is indispensable for global risk management. In a world with greater competition, this may be harder to achieve, but only by rebuilding trust and new forms of collaborative mechanisms can leaders steer us towards greater resilience and help shape a more stable future. The future is not a single, fixed path but a range of possible trajectories, each dependent on the decisions we make today as a global community. The challenges highlighted in this report – spanning geopolitical shocks, rapid technological change, climate instability, societal strife, and economic risks – underscore both the scale of the potential perils we face and our shared responsibility to shape what comes next. Global Risks Report 2026 5