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.

“Please select one risk that you believe is most likely to present a material crisis on a global scale in 2026.” (top 10 risks selected ... Severity was assessed on a 1-7 Likert scale [1 = Low severity, 7 = High severity]. ... Sample size by age group varied, and all respondents were weighted ...

Geopolitical, economic and geoeconomic risks surge · Geoeconomic confrontation tops the near-term rankings, with 18% of respondents viewing it as the risk most likely to trigger a global crisis in 2026, as well as being ranked 1st for severity ...

January 14, 2026 - The issue that has soared higher and faster than any other in the survey is the potential for adverse outcomes of artificial intelligence, moving from 30th place among short-term risks as of last year to fifth place among long-term risks in the ...

January 14, 2026 - The Global Risks Report 2026, the 21st edition of this annual report, marks the second half of a turbulent decade. The report analyses global risks through three timeframes to support decision-makers in balancing current crises and longer-term priorities. Chapter 1 presents the findings of this year’s Global Risks Perception Survey (GRPS), which captures insights from over 1,300 experts worldwide.

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 ...

January 29, 2026 - State-based armed conflict ranks second in the WEF report, selected by 14% of respondents. Notably, there are 59 active state-based conflicts worldwide, the highest number since World War II. Rounding out the top three risks are extreme weather events, selected by 8% respondents overall. From wildfires to droughts, severe weather events are meaningfully contributing to food inflation, displacement, and higher insurance costs. As global ...

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 - 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 14, 2026 - This can be reflected in the increased presence of technological risks over the next two years, with Misinformation and disinformation and Cyber insecurity ranked #2 and #6 respectively on the 2-year outlook and Misinformation and disinformation ...

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.”

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.

The World Economic Forum's Global ... that include energy supply and food crisis, rising inflation, cyberattacks, failure to meet net-zero targets, weaponization of economic policy, weakening of human rights....

This is likely to deepen over the next two years as technology becomes increasingly embedded in daily life and geoeconomics tensions persist - heightening the risks of increased digital distrust and dilution of socio-environmental progress. Inequality was selected by respondents as the most interconnected global risk for a second year running, followed by economic downturn. In the outlook for the next two years, a majority of environmental risks experienced declines in ranking.

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.

April 18, 2026 - The WEF Global Risks Report 2026, published by the World Economic Forum, is one of the world’s most authoritative annual assessments of global threats. Based on the Global Risks Perception Survey (GRPS) of over 900 experts from academia, business, government, international organizations, and civil society, the report identifies, ranks, and analyzes the most severe risks facing the world over both short-term (2-year) and long-term (10-year) horizons.

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 ...

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.

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.