The World Economic Forum (WEF) has identified rising geoeconomic tensions as the world’s most pressing threat in 2026, highlighting a landscape of growing volatility and interconnection.

The WEF’s Global Risks Report 2026 warns that increasing trade disputes, sanctions, tariffs, and strategic competition between major powers are straining multilateral cooperation and fragmenting global markets, creating uncertainty for trade, investment, and long-term economic growth.

State-based armed conflicts are closely linked to these tensions, with geopolitical rivalries increasingly spilling over into military confrontations, proxy wars, and regional instability.

These developments are disrupting supply chains, energy markets, and capital flows, the report notes, adding to the economic and political uncertainty facing nations worldwide.

Climate-related risks remain critical, with extreme weather events imposing mounting economic costs through infrastructure damage, food insecurity, supply chain interruptions, and rising insurance claims.

Societal and political challenges are also escalating, as deepening polarisation and ideological divisions weaken policy effectiveness, undermine institutions, and complicate consensus-building.

The WEF further draws attention to the dangers of misinformation, noting that the deliberate spread of false information can distort public discourse, erode trust in institutions, and amplify market and political instability.

Other top concerns include the risk of economic downturns due to high global debt and tight financial conditions, the erosion of human rights and civic freedoms, rapid technological change and AI-related disruptions, cyber insecurity, and growing inequality, which can exacerbate social tensions and constrain growth.

The report stresses that these risks are increasingly interconnected rather than isolated. The WEF calls for proactive global cooperation, strengthened resilience, and forward-looking governance to address compounding threats in an increasingly fragmented world.