WEF Global risk of highest concern for doing business, by country, 2016

The risks of highest concern for doing business differ considerably from country to country, according to EOS data. However, some patterns emerge. In developed economies, economic risks such as asset bubbles and fiscal crises are high on the business agenda; concern is also present about technological risks such as cyberattacks and data theft. In these economies, it is increasingly evident that connectivity plays a central role in production processes, service provision and everyday life. In emerging and developing economies, the top concern is unemployment and underemployment as well as potential energy price shocks.

A striking finding is the relative absence of environmental risks and, more generally, of long-term issues among the top concerns of business leaders in their respective countries. For instance, no executive considers failure of climate mitigation and adaptation as the number one risk for doing business in his/her country. This stands in contrast to the priorities considered by members of the multistakeholder community of the World Economic Forum who took part in the Global Risks Perception Survey and perceived it as the most impactful and the third most likely risk on a global scale. This finding highlights the divergence between national and global interests when it comes to some global risks such as climate change. It also calls for continued alignment across stakeholders whose actions are based on different time horizons.

The top global risks for doing business for each country are shown in this infographic. Full economy-level data are available at www.weforum.org/risks. Throughout Part 4 of the Report which features this graphic, the ranking of risks refers exclusively to the EOS question on risks of highest concern for doing business. Read the report to find out more.