The Global Risks Report 2024

Extreme weather events Critical change to Earth systems Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse Misinformation and disinformation Natural resource shortages Involuntary migration Societal polarization Cyber insecurity Adverse outcomes of AI technologies Lack of economic opportunityAcademia Extreme weather events Critical change to Earth systems Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse Natural resource shortages Adverse outcomes of AI technologies Misinformation and disinformation Societal polarization Cyber insecurity Involuntary migration PollutionPrivate sector Critical change to Earth systems Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse Extreme weather events Natural resource shortages Lack of economic opportunity Involuntary migration Misinformation and disinformation Adverse outcomes of AI technologies Cyber insecurity Societal polarizationCivil society Critical change to Earth systems Extreme weather events Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse Natural resource shortages Adverse outcomes of AI technologies Cyber insecurity Involuntary migration Misinformation and disinformation Pollution Societal polarizationGovernment Extreme weather events Critical change to Earth systems Natural resource shortages Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse Involuntary migration Adverse outcomes of AI technologies Pollution Societal polarization Misinformation and disinformation Cyber insecurityInternational organization 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10thSeverity by stakeholder over the long term (10 years) FIGURE 2.3 Source World Economic Forum Global Risks Perception Survey 2023-2024.Risk categories Economic Environmental Geopolitical Societal Technological watch over the coming years (Chapter 2.5: End of development?). The related economic risk of Illicit economic activity is perceived to be of lower severity over both time periods. However, it is seen to be driven by several risks ranked in both the short- and longer-term top 10, suggesting it may be an underappreciated risk over the coming decade (Chapter 2.6: Crime wave). Inflation is the only risk with a severity score predicted to improve over the next decade, and it moves from #7 to #32. In fact, most economic risks fall rapidly in comparative rankings of risk perception over the next decade, with, for example, Economic downturn dropping from #9 to #28 over the longer-term horizon. This may reflect that Geoeconomic confrontation (#16), a key driver of many of economic risks, has decreased significantly in perceived severity over both time horizons when compared to last year’s scores. 1 Indeed, geopolitical risks are noticeably absent from the top 10 rankings over the next decade. Interstate armed conflict exhibits the same long-term severity score as last year but falls from 5th to 15th place over the 10-year period. Similar to last year, Terrorist attacks sits in the bottom left quadrant of Figure 2.1, indicating lower perceived severity over both the short and long term. While the latest available data indicates that overall lethality remains contained compared to other risks, at 6,701 global fatalities in 2022, terrorism has the potential to spark broader conflict and unrest, such as the current conflict in the Middle East. 2 Global Risks Report 2024 39