Global Risks Report 2026

Appendix C Executive Opinion Survey: National Risk Perceptions Table C.1 presents the list of 34 risks that were incorporated into the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Executive Opinion Survey (EOS), which was administered between March and June 2025. The risks are comparable to those in the Global Risks Perception Survey (GRPS) 2025- 2026 but are applied at a more granular level to reflect the possible short-term and country-level manifestations of global risks. To ensure legibility, the names of some of the global risks have been abbreviated in the figures throughout this report. The portion of the full name used in the abbreviation is in bold. National risk list TABLE C.1 Risk categories Economic Environmental Geopolitical Societal Technological Source World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey 2025. Asset bubble burst Concentration of strategic resources and technologies Crime and illicit economic activity Debt (public, corporate, household) Disruptions to a systemically important supply chain Disruptions to critical infrastructure Economic downturn (e.g. recession, stagnation) Inflation Talent and/or labour shortages Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse Critical change to Earth systems Extreme weather events (floods, heatwaves, etc.) Natural resource shortages (food, water) Non-weather related natural disasters (earthquakes, volcanoes, etc.) Pollution (air, water, soil) Adverse outcomes of artificial intelligence technologies Adverse outcomes of frontier technologies (quantum, biotech, geoengineering etc.) Geoeconomic confrontation (sanctions, tariffs, investment screening etc.) Intrastate violence (civil strikes, riots) State-based armed conflict (proxy, civil wars, coups, terrorism, etc.) Decline in health and well-being Erosion of human rights and/or civic freedoms Inequality (wealth, income) Infectious diseases Insufficient public services and social protections (incl. education, infrastructure, pensions) Involuntary migration or displacement Lack of economic opportunity or unemployment Societal polarization Censorship and surveillance Cyber insecurity Cyber warfare Misinformation and disinformation Online harms Biological, chemical or nuclear weapons or hazards Global Risks Report 2026 81