10. Prolonged recession of the global economy
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Fabian Strauch/picture alliance/Getty Images
Percent top risk – 68.6%
“Respondents reckon that economic risks in general a prolonged recession of the global economy in particular are the most likely and concerning fallout for the world and companies over the next 18 months,” WEF wrote in the report.
“COVID-19 diminished economic activity, required trillions of dollars in response packages and is likely to cause structural shifts in the global economy going forward, as countries plan for recovery and revival.”
Source: World Economic Forum
9. Surge in bankruptcies (big firms and SMEs) and a wave of industry consolidation
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Associated Press
Percent top risk – 56.8%
“A build-up of debt is likely to burden government budgets and corporate balances for many years, global economic relations could be reshaped, emerging economies are at risk of submerging into a deeper crisis, while businesses could face increasingly adverse consumption, production and competition patterns,” said WEF in the report.
Source: World Economic Forum
8. Failure of industries or sectors in certain countries to properly recover
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Robert Alexander/Getty Images
Percent top risk – 55.9%
Airlines are one industry that’s been slammed by the pandemic, as all nonessential travel was banned to curb the spread of the disease. Experts and analysts think it will take five years for the industry to recover and that some airlines will not survive.
Source: World Economic Forum
7. High levels of structural unemployment (especially youth)
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Reuters
Percent top risk – 49.3%
In April, the US lost a record 20.5 million jobs and the unemployment rate spiked to 14.7% , the highest since the Great Depression. Layoffs have continued in just eight weeks, 36.5 million Americans have filed for unemployment insurance.
Source: World Economic Forum
6. Tighter restriction on the cross-border movement of people and goods
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Associated Press
Percent top risk – 48.7%
In March, the US and Mexico agreed to limit nonessential travel at the southern border to contain coronavirus. The US had previously closed off its border with Canada for the same reason.
Source: World Economic Forum
5. Weakening of fiscal positions in major economies
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Reuters
Percent top risk – 45.8%
Around the world, central banks have been easing fiscal policy to aid the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. While the help is needed now, it means central banks have less ammunition if there’s further economic fallout in the future.
In the US, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that more support may be needed to save the country from lasting economic damage .
Source: World Economic Forum
4. Protracted disruption of global supply chains
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Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Percent top risk – 42.1%
Companies have seen shifts and disruptions in their supply chains from the coronavirus, and a change in demand for certain goods amid the pandemic.
Source: World Economic Forum
3. Economic collapse of an emerging market or developing economy
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Reuters Connecct
Percent top risk – 38%
In a recent interview, Nobel laureate Paul Krugman said that emerging markets are sliding into liquidity traps and might exhaust their best defense against a deep recession.
“There’s nothing about the logic of a liquidity trap which says it can’t happen in a developed country,” Krugman told Bloomberg in a Friday interview.
Source: World Economic Forum
2. Cyberattacks and data fraud due to a sustained shift in working patterns
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REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth
Percent top risk – 37.8%
Coronavirus-themed cyberattacks are already occurring amid the pandemic. In the US and the UK, some of these themed attacks have been directed at healthcare workers and researchers working to fight the virus .
Source: World Economic Forum
1. Another global outbreak of COVID-19 or different infectious disease
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REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs
Percent top risk – 30.8%
As countries around the world start to slowly reopen, the threat of a second wave of coronavirus cases is top of mind. In the US, a Moody’s economist predicted that a second wave of COVID-19 would