Despite positive moves to diversify business models and supply chains since Covid-19, businesses continue to experience significant disruption around the world. The pandemic came as a massive shock to business models, creating global shortages, delays and higher prices, while the war in Ukraine triggered an energy crisis, particularly in Europe, turbo-charging inflation.

Unsurprisingly, given the current ‘permacrisis’, business interruption and supply chain disruption ranks as the second top risk in this year’s Allianz Risk Barometer (34%). It is second only to cyber incidents (by just a few votes, also on 34%), whose top position reflects the importance of today’s digital economy, the evolving threat from ransomware and extortion, as well as geopolitical rivalries and conflicts increasingly being played out in cyber space. Cyber risk and business interruption (BI) are closely linked with cyber also ranking as the cause of BI companies fear most.

Indeed, the results show that a number of BI-related risks have climbed this year’s rankings as the new economic and political consequences of the world in the aftermath of Covid-19 and the Ukraine war take hold. These include the impact of the energy crisis, a new entry in the 2023 survey at #4, while macroeconomic developments, such as inflation and potential recession, peaks at #3 – its highest position since the first Allianz Risk Barometer in 2012. Political risks and violence is another new entry in the top 10 global risks at #10, shortage of skilled workforce rises to #8, while outside of the top 10, the prospect of critical infrastructure blackouts or failures (#12) is also of more concern to respondents than 12 months ago. Conversely, pandemic outbreak plummets down the list of concerns (#4 in 2022 to #13 in 2023) as vaccines have brought an end to lockdowns and restrictions in most major markets. The exception? China sees pandemic risk rise year-on-year (from #9 to #3) – the only country in the survey to do so – following its recent easing of long-in-place restrictions.