As 2023 begins, the world is facing a set of risks that feel both wholly new and eerily familiar. We have seen a return of “older” risks – inflation, cost-of-living crises, trade wars, capital outflows from emerging markets, widespread social unrest, geopolitical confrontation and the spectre of nuclear warfare – which few of this generation’s business leaders and public policy-makers have experienced.

These are being amplified by unsustainable levels of debt, a new era of low growth, low global investment and de-globalization, and the growing pressure of climate change impacts and ambitions in an ever-shrinking window for transition to a 1.5°C world.

The World Economic Forum Global Risks Report 2023 presents the results of the latest Global Risks Perception Survey.