Allianz's 14th Risk Barometer is based on a survey conducted in October-November 2024, involving 3,778 experts from 106 countries and covering 24 industry sectors. Participants identified up to three priority risks for their businesses, with a strong representation of large companies (46%). This report offers a unique insight into companies' priorities and concerns in the face of an ever-changing risk landscape.
This article contains:
Key insights
- The main risks identified for 2025 include cyber risks, business interruptions and natural disasters.
- The risk impact of new technologies and developments in artificial intelligence (AI) is a new entrant to the top 10, in 10th place.
- The main risks are complex and interconnected. Companies need to take a holistic approach to risk management.
Overview of the main risks in 2025
The main risks identified for 2025 include cyber risks, business interruptions and natural disasters. These concerns reflect an increasingly complex and interconnected risk environment. Against this backdrop, companies and their insurance partners need to adopt holistic risk management and build resilience, despite the challenges imposed by the volatility of short-term business decisions, global crises and the rising cost of living.
In 2025, cyber incidents dominate for the fourth year running, with 38% of expert responses. Meanwhile, the risk impact of new technologies and developments in artificial intelligence (AI) is a new entrant to the top 10 global risks, in 10th place. Closely related to cyber, business interruption ranks second (31%), just ahead of another related risk, natural disasters, in third place (29%).
Top 10 risks for businesses
The figures in this infographic represent the frequency of risk selection as a percentage of all responses from 3,778 respondents to the survey:
Evolution of the main risks
- Cyber incidents
Ransomware attacks, data breaches and computer breakdowns remain at the forefront. These risks are also amplified by the introduction of new technologies such as artificial intelligence. - Business interruptions
Linked to the disruption of supply chains, these interruptions continue to be a priority for companies, highlighting the need for adaptive planning. - Natural disasters
Insured losses linked to these events exceeded $100 billion for the fifth year running, reinforcing their importance for businesses. - Regulatory changes
The evolution of standards, particularly in terms of sustainable development, represents a major challenge. Climate risk reporting requirements are a key concern. - Climate change
The consequences of extreme weather events, such as flooding, are a major concern for companies, while transition risk management is the main area of focus for the future.
Increased interdependence of risks
Against a backdrop of geopolitical and economic uncertainty and a changing risk environment, the three main risks - cybercrime, business interruptions and natural disasters - as well as many other perils in the top ten, are particularly complex, unpredictable and interconnected.
What stands out in this year's Allianz Risk Barometer is the interconnectedness of the major risks. A change in one of them - or even a mitigating measure - can have a knock-on effect on another, and yet another. Companies need to take a holistic approach to risk management.
Extreme weather events, such as the devastating floods in Spain last year, increasing geopolitical conflicts, and cyber incidents such as the CrowdStrike outage, demonstrate the need to continue building resilience.
