Residents in the Donbas area and elsewhere have already endured eight years of conflict. But now the intensification and spread of the conflict throughout the country risks a scale of death and destruction that are frightening to contemplate, given the immense military capacities involved.

Even before the Ukraine-Russia conflict, political risk had been rising ever higher on company risk registers. Despite this awareness, the impacts of political or geopolitical shocks to business have often been perceived as limited or localised. Some impacts appeared to be beyond the control of business leaders to manage. The catastrophic events in Ukraine have shattered such assumptions, and left businesses no option but to respond quickly and decisively.

The Ukraine crisis presents a myriad of risks to the sector – direct underwriting losses, rapidly rising prices, slower economic growth, financial market volatility and the potential for asset shocks – that are not altogether different to what occurred during COVID-19 and the financial crisis. But with direct investment and underwriting exposures limited overall, and with second order effects in financial markets currently manageable, the sector is strongly positioned to support clients through this period of uncertainty.

In addition to the more in-depth Global Risks Perception Survey, a critical foundation of the Global Risks Report, data presented here is from a single question in the World Economic Forum’s Executive Opinion Survey. 12,361 executives from 124 countries around the world were asked to give their opinions on the top critical short-term threats to their country, out of a total list of 35 risks.