Allianz Risk Barometer 2023: Cyber and BI top threats as economic and energy risks rise

26 January 2023 —
Cyber incidents and Business interruption (BI) rank as the biggest company concerns for the second year in succession (both with 34% of all responses), according to the Allianz Risk Barometer 2023.

The Allianz Risk Barometer is an annual business risk ranking compiled by Allianz Group's corporate insurer Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS), together with other Allianz entities, which incorporates the view of 2,712 risk management experts in 94 countries and territories including CEOs, risk managers, brokers and insurance experts. It is being published for the 12th time.

"For the second year in a row the Allianz Risk Barometer shows that companies are most concerned about mounting cyber risks and business interruption. At the same time, they see inflation, an impending recession and the energy crisis as immediate threats to their business. Companies - in Europe and in the US in particular - worry about the current 'permacrisis' resulting from the consequences of the pandemic and the economic and political impact from ongoing war in Ukraine. It's a stress test for every company's resilience.

The positive news is that as an insurer we see continuous improvement in this area among many of our clients, particularly around making supply chains more failure-proof, improving business continuity planning and strengthening cyber controls. Taking action to build resilience and de-risk is now front and center for companies, given the events of recent years", said AGCS' Chief Executive Officer Joachim Mueller.

Natural catastrophes and Climate change drop down the rankings as companies prioritize pressing macroeconomic concerns - inflation, the energy crisis and possible recession. At the same time, pandemic outbreak plummets down the list of worries as Covid-19 restrictions have largely been removed.

However, it is Macroeconomic developments such as inflation, financial market volatility and a looming recession (up from #10 to #3 year-on-year), as well as the impact of the Energy crisis (a new entry at #4) which are the top risers in this year's list of global business risks, as the economic and political consequences of the world in the aftermath of Covid-19 and the Ukraine war take hold.

Such pressing concerns call for immediate action from companies, explaining why both Natural catastrophes (from #3 to #6) and Climate change (#6 to #7) drop in the annual rankings, as does Pandemic outbreak (from #4 to #13) as vaccines have brought an end to lockdowns and restrictions. Political risks and violence is another new entry in the top 10 global risks at #10, while Shortage of skilled workforce rises to #8. Changes in legislation and regulation remains a key risk at #5, while Fire/explosion drops two positions to #9. View the full global and country risk rankings.



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