The Global Risks Perception Survey (GRPS) has underpinned the Global Risks Report for nearly two decades and is the World Economic Forum’s premier source of original global risks data. This year’s GRPS has brought together leading insights on the evolving global risks landscape from 1,490 experts across academia, business, government, the international community and civil society. Responses for the GRPS 2023-2024 were collected from 4 September to 9 October 2023.

“Global risk” is defined as the possibility of the occurrence of an event or condition which, if it occurs, would negatively impact a significant proportion of global GDP, population or natural resources. Relevant definitions for each of the 34 global risks are included in Appendix A: Definitions and Global Risks List.

The GRPS 2023-2024 included the following components:

– Risk landscape invited respondents to assess the likely impact (severity) of global risks over a one-, two- and 10-year horizon to illustrate the potential development of individual global risks over time and identify areas of key concern.

– Consequences asked respondents to consider the range of potential impacts of a risk arising, to highlight relationships between global risks and the potential for compounding crises.

– Risk governance invited respondents to reflect on which approaches have the most potential for driving action on global risk reduction and preparedness.

– Outlook asked respondents to predict the evolution of key aspects underpinning the global risks landscape.

Refer to Appendix B: Global Risks Perception Survey 2023-2024 for more detail on the methodology.

To complement GRPS data on global risks, the report also draws on the World Economic Forum’s Executive Opinion Survey (EOS) to identify risks that pose the most severe threat to each country over the next two years, as identified by over 11,000 business leaders in 113 economies. When considered in context with the GRPS, this data provides insight into local concerns and priorities and points to potential “hot spots” and regional manifestations of global risks. Refer to Appendix C: Executive Opinion Survey: National Risk Perceptions for more details.

Finally, the report integrates the views of leading experts to generate foresight and to support analysis of the survey data. Contributions were collected from 55 colleagues across the World Economic Forum’s platforms. The report also harnesses qualitative insights from over 160 experts from across academia, business, government, the international community and civil society through community meetings, private interviews and thematic workshops conducted from May to October 2023. These include the Global Risks Advisory Board, Global Future Council on Complex Risks and the Chief Risks Officers Community. Refer to Acknowledgements for more detail.