Economic and societal concerns 鈥 including stagnant growth, the erosion of social cohesion and wellbeing, and increasing levels of national debt 鈥 are front of mind for businesses, according to the World Economic Forum鈥檚 2023 Executive Opinion Survey (EOS).
Executives were asked to identify the risks they considered the biggest threats to their country over the next two years. More than 11,000 responses from executives across 113 economies reflect continuing unease over the strength of the global economy, access to human capital, and the availability of energy amid high levels of societal discontent.
Top risk concerns by economy
Top risk concerns by region
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Record levels of inflation, a pervasive cost-of-living crisis, energy supply challenges, and the extreme weather events that devastated communities in many countries drove a relatively consistent set of top business leader concerns across regions. The strength of sentiment on these issues resulted in a lower profile for geopolitical and technological risks.
Key takeaways:
- With recession still looming and debts 鈥 both public and household 鈥 mounting, 鈥渆conomic downturn鈥, 鈥渋nflation鈥, and 鈥減ublic debt鈥 feature heavily among the top ten risks in every economy.
- Reflecting the cost-of-living crisis and frequent worker strike actions in many countries, 鈥渋nequality (wealth, income)鈥 and "erosion of social cohesion and wellbeing" are top ten risks for business executives in high-, upper-middle-, lower-middle-, and low-income countries alike.
- In a year of notable extreme heat events, wildfires, droughts, floods, and windstorms in nearly every region, and with weather patterns already in an El Ni帽o phase, it is no surprise that 鈥渆xtreme weather events鈥 are a top-ten concern worldwide.
- Given the intense focus on economic, societal, and (to a lesser extent) geopolitical issues, cyber and technological risks feature less prominently in the rankings. However, executives based in high-income countries placed 鈥渃ybercrime and cyber insecurity鈥 as well as 鈥渕isinformation and disinformation鈥 in the top 10.
