January 14, 2026 - Of the biggest concerns in the next two years, mis- and disinformation is another that is also perceived as a severe long-term risk, in fourth place, with the fear of adverse outcomes of AI rounding off the top five. Global risks ranked by severity, short term (2 years) and long term (10 years) Image: World Economic Forum

January 8, 2026 - The World Economic Forum publishes a comprehensive series of reports which examine in detail the broad range of global issues it seeks to address with stakeholders as part of its mission of improving the state of the world. Besides reports on its key events and standalone publications such ...

January 23, 2026 - A rise in nationalism, unsettling developments among nations that have historically been allied partners, and increased conflicts among nations is raising concerns about overall stability at a global level. ... These same top five risks remain as the top five risks when looking out over short-term horizons (2028), with geopolitical confrontation remaining as the #1 short-term risk concern. Interestingly, that risk concern increased eight positions from its ranking last year, suggesting a noticeably elevated concern.

January 14, 2026 - Geoeconomic confrontation — which refers to the use of tools such as sanctions and tariffs — ranked above misinformation and disinformation, societal polarisation, extreme weather and state-based armed conflict as the top global risk for 2026.

January 14, 2026 - In the next 10 years, environmental risks have retained their ranking as the most severe risks, with Extreme weather events identified as the top risk and half of the top 10 risks being environmental in nature (Figures 7 and 10). In this year’s GRPS, we also asked respondents about their perceptions of the global outlook by risk category: societal, technological, environmental, economic and geopolitical.

The 20th edition of the Global Risks Report 2025 reveals an increasingly fractured global landscape, where escalating geopolitical, environmental, societal and technological challenges threaten stability and progress. This edition presents the findings of the Global Risks Perception Survey 2024-2025 (GRPS), which captures insights from over 900 experts worldwide.

State-based armed conflict is identified as the most pressing immediate global risk for 2025, with nearly one-quarter of respondents ranking it as the most severe concern for the year ahead.

January 14, 2026 - “Extreme weather events” topped the list, followed by “biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse” and “critical change to Earth systems”. “Unlike in the two-year outlook, where these have declined in rankings, the existential nature ...

January 14, 2026 - ... Misinformation and disinformation rank second on the WEF's list of short-term risks, followed by societal polarization — or widening gaps between sharply opposed groups of people.

April 30, 2024 - The report notes, “However, GRPS respondents disagree about the urgency of environmental risks, particularly Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse and Critical change to Earth systems. Younger respondents rank these risks far more highly over the two years than older age groups, with both risks in their top 10 rankings in the short term.

As an example, consider the ‘risk ... of 34 global risks, on a 1–7 scale [1 – Low severity, 7 – High severity]. A simple average based on the scores selected was calculated and the results ranked by severity: 1) Misinformation and ...

January 14, 2026 - Economic downturn at #11 and Inflation at #21 are each up eight positions from last year, followed closely by Asset bubble burst at #18, which increased seven positions. Disruptions to critical infrastructure is also up four positions to #22.

The World Economic Forum publishes a comprehensive series of reports which examine in detail the broad range of global issues it seeks to address with stakeholders as part of its mission of improving the state of the world. Besides reports on its key events and standalone publications such ...

January 14, 2026 - Economic downturn and inflation risks both surged eight positions, to 11th and 21st respectively, while asset bubble burst rose seven to 18th position. Mounting debt concerns and potential asset bubbles, amid geoeconomic tensions, could trigger ...

January 20, 2026 - Economic downturn and Inflation ... - Misinformation and disinformation and Cyber insecurity ranked #2 and #6, respectively, on the two-year outlook. Adverse outcomes of AI is the risk with the largest rise in ranking over time, moving from #30 on the two-year outlook to #5 on the 10-year outlook...

Last year’s edition of the Global Risks Report saw inflation and economic downturn as notable new entrants into the top 10 ranking on a two-year outlook, in 7th and 9th respectively.

January 21, 2026 - The centrality of geoeconomic confrontation in the global risks landscape is not restricted to 2026, with respondents selecting it as the top risk over the two-year time horizon (to 2028), as well, up eight positions from last year.

July 12, 2024 - According to the report, the top ... two years) are: 1) misinformation and disinformation; 2) extreme weather events; 3) societal polarization; 4) cyber insecurity; and 5) interstate armed conflict....

1 month ago - The Global Risks Report 2023 was released on 11th Jan 2023. The report lists cost of living crisis as the top global risk in the short term while failure to mitigate climate change is the top concern for the long term.

February 3, 2026 - In addition to aggregating survey responses, the Global Risks Report shows how different categories of experts ranked the risks. On the issue of pollution, experts from the private sector expressed far less concern than experts from civil society, academia, and government. The WEF notes in the report that pollution “is the world’s largest environmental risk factor for disease and premature deaths, and its impacts are unequal, with 92% of pollution-related deaths and the greatest burden of related economic losses occurring in low- and middle-income countries.”