The World Economic Forum (WEF) has released its Global Risks Report 2026, presenting a sobering assessment of the threats facing global markets and economies. The report, based on a survey of over 900 global experts from academia, business, government, and civil society conducted between September and October 2024, identifies geoeconomic confrontation and great-power competition as the top near-term risks for the next two years.
Approximately half of the survey respondents ranked economic warfare and geopolitical competition above state conflict, misinformation, and climate change in terms of near-term severity. This signals a significant shift in the global risk landscape, where interstate tensions and economic disruption are taking precedence. The report warns that these protectionist policies, including tariffs, sanctions, and trade barriers, threaten to fragment global supply chains, trigger inflation, and erode investment, with 88% of businesses already planning supply-chain reconfiguration in response.
For the short-term horizon (two years), the top risks are: 1) Misinformation and disinformation (amplified by generative AI), 2) Extreme weather events, 3) Societal polarization, 4) Cyber espionage and warfare, and 5) Geoeconomic confrontation. Inequality, involuntary migration, and pollution round out the top ten.
Looking at the long-term decade horizon, environmental hazards dominate. Extreme weather remains the top long-term risk, followed by critical change to Earth systems and biodiversity loss. Notably, adverse outcomes of AI technologies have climbed sharply in the 10-year ranking, reflecting risks to labor markets, inequality, and regulatory disruption. The report flags accelerating AI and quantum advances as emerging structural threats to jobs, inequality, and geopolitical stability.
WEF's Mirek Dušek warned that "the stakes have never been higher," noting that widening divides question whether existing governance structures can tackle these collective challenges. The findings arrive ahead of the WEF's annual meeting in Davos, where leaders are set to debate tariffs, debt, and tech governance amid growing global fragmentation and fears of a "new age of competition." The report concludes that only through multilateral dialogue and coordinated action can leaders rebuild trust and strengthen economic resilience.
