The Global Risks Report 2018

The Global Risks Report 2018 identifies a shift in perceived global threats, with environmental risks growing in prominence while economic risks fade. It highlights systemic vulnerabilities including biodiversity loss, cybersecurity threats, and rising geopolitical tensions. The report warns that the world is moving into an unsettling geopolitical phase characterized by the erosion of multilateralism and the rise of strong-state politics. It also introduces 'Future Shocks'—potential dramatic breakdowns such as simultaneous breadbasket failures or the fragmentation of the internet—to emphasize the danger of cascading disruptions in complex, interconnected systems.

• Environmental risks have increased in prominence, with all five risks in the category ranked higher than average for both likelihood and impact over a 10-year horizon.
• Biodiversity loss is occurring at mass-extinction rates, with vertebrate species populations declining by an estimated 58% between 1970 and 2012.
• Cybersecurity threats are intensifying, with business cyber breaches nearly doubling in five years, from 68 per business in 2012 to 130 per business in 2017.
• The global geopolitical landscape is shifting toward 'strong-state politics' and nationalist agendas, leading to a decline in commitment to rules-based multilateralism.
• Economic risks are becoming a 'blind spot' for leaders due to a broad-based pickup in GDP growth, despite vulnerabilities like unsustainable asset prices and high indebtedness, particularly in China.
• There is a significant risk of 'runaway collapse' in complex systems where risks cascade through interconnected networks, such as the link between climate change, conflict, and migration.
• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a severe economic and health threat, with a World Bank study estimating a drag on global GDP of between 1.1 and 3.8 percentage points by 2050.
• Youth unemployment remains a critical challenge, particularly in the MENA region where it is around 30%, and in Africa where 70% of young people live on less than US$3.10 per day.
• Online misinformation, or 'digital wildfires', has surged, with research indicating that false news stories can outperform major news sources in engagement on social media.

APA

World Economic Forum (2018). The Global Risks Report 2018. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GRR18_Report.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. The Global Risks Report 2018. 2018. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GRR18_Report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=The Global Risks Report 2018 |date=2018 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GRR18_Report.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2018global, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{The Global Risks Report 2018}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2018}, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GRR18_Report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }