Economic issues dominate concerns for business executives around the world, according to the World Economic Forum’s Regional Risks for Doing Business 2019 report.
In a survey of nearly 13,000 business leaders in over 130 countries, respondents ranked “fiscal crises” as the leading risk to doing business at a global scale.
Globally, three of the top five risks are economic-related with “unemployment or underemployment” coming in third and “energy price shock” ranking fourth. These risks have strong links to social disruption and contribute to “failure of national governance” ranking fifth and “profound social instability” ranking sixth.
Environmental risks are the leading concerns for doing business across East Asia and the Pacific, with “natural catastrophes” ranking first and “extreme weather events” ranking fifth.
According to the Centre for Research
on Epidemiology of Disasters, the
broader Asia Pacific Region witnessed
50% of all the natural disasters in the
world during 2018. The disasters in
the region claimed over 80% of the
total deaths, affected over 50 million
people, and totalled $56.8 billion in
costs. Asia Pacific not only suffers
the most from natural disasters and
extreme weather events in terms of
loss of life, but its large and highly
vulnerable population make the
region especially susceptible to
economic losses.
Cyberattacks most feared in Europe and North America
“Cyberattacks” are the second biggest challenge for executives, and the most important one for European and North American businesses for the second year in a row, highlighting the increased sophistication and proliferation of this type of attack.
Environmental-related risks are the top concerns in South Asia and in East Asia and the Pacific, with both regions having suffered devastating natural disasters and extreme weather events.
Social challenges rank high in Eurasia, affected by economic slowdown, and Latin America and in the Caribbean, where governments are still aiming to deliver critical social services.
In the Middle East and North Africa “energy price shock” leads due to ongoing price and production volatility, and in sub-Saharan Africa, where youth unemployment is above 13%, executives are worried by their economies’ inability to create jobs. While global cooperation is still the most effective tool to address these varying risks, the report’s mapping highlights the areas in which regions can act.
“At a time when global economic growth appears fragile, business…
