Misinformation and disinformation emerged as the top risk over the next two years, according to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Risks Report 2025, followed by extreme weather events and state-based armed conflict. As with last year’s report, over the ten-year horizon, perceived risks are dominated by environmental concerns.
The report derives from the results of an annual ‘Global Risks Perception Survey,’ which brings together insights on the evolving global risks landscape from over 900 experts, policymakers, and industry leaders.
For the 2025 report, respondents were asked to: assess the severity of global risks over a one-, two-, and ten-year horizon (risk landscape); consider the range of potential impacts of a risk arising (consequences); reflect on which approaches have the most potential for driving action on global risk reduction and preparedness (risk governance); and predict the evolution of key aspects underpinning the global risks landscape (outlook).
The WEF’s ‘Executive Opinion Survey’ complements these data by identifying “risks that pose the most severe threat to each country over the next two years, as identified by over 11,000 business leaders in 121 economies.”
In addition to analyzing the survey findings and the range of implications, the 20th edition of the report provides six in-depth analyses of selected risk themes:
- The world in 2035;
- Structural forces;
- Pollution at a crossroads;
- Losing control of biotech;
- Super-ageing societies; and
- Looking back: 20 years of the Global Risk Report.
The 2025 report highlights that the global outlook is increasingly fractured across geopolitical, environmental, societal, economic, and technological domains, contributing to declining optimism. It identifies the top five current risks (most likely to present a material crisis on a global scale) as: 1) state-based armed conflict; 2) extreme weather events; 3) geoeconomic confrontation; 4) misinformation and disinformation; and 5) societal polarization.
The top five imminent threats (those likely to be most severe in the next two years) are: 1) misinformation and disinformation; 2) extreme weather events; 3) state-based armed conflict; 4) societal polarization; and 5) cyber espionage and warfare.
According to the report, the most severe threats over the course of the next ten years are: 1) extreme weather events; 2) biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse; 3) critical change to Earth systems; 4) natural resource shortages; and 5) misinformation and disinformation.
These findings are broadly similar to the report’s 2024 edition. However, according to a WEF press release, “[a]ll 33 risks in the ranking increase in severity score over the longer term, reflecting respondents’ concerns about the heightened frequency or intensity of these risks as the next decade unfolds.”
The report acknowledges that “[d]eepening divisions and increasing fragmentation are reshaping international relations,” with levels of global cooperation on geopolitical and humanitarian issues, economic relations, and environmental, societal and technological challenges likely reaching new lows in the years to come. Respondents’ perceptions anticipate the Western-led global order to continue to decline over the next decade, and alternative power centres, including China, India, and the Gulf states – to strengthen. To prevent “a downward spiral,” the report hopes countries will find avenues for dialogue and collaboration.
The Global Risks Report 2025 was published on 15 January, ahead of the WEF’s Annual Meeting. [Publication: Global Risks Report 2025] [Report Summary] [Publication Landing Page] [SDG Knowledge Hub Stories on Global Risks Report 2024, 2023, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2015]
