Top 10 emerging risks of 2023

2 min read
Feb 1, 2024

Which emerging risks were most commonly reported in 2023? Whereas movement in the principal risks that companies are reporting has only subtle differences, emerging risks are changing year-on-year due to a range of social, political and economic factors. 

With the support of our Horizon Scanning Tool - created to help a number of our members who wanted to save time in their horizon scanning - we have assembled the top emerging risk trends in 2023 compared to 2022, based on externally reported emerging risks:
 

Top emerging risks 2023 vs 2022

Top 10 emerging risks 2023 vs 2022 (1)

top 10 emerging risks
Download a sunburst of all 2023 emerging risks in our Horizon Scanning Tool
And see the two-tier taxonomy behind them.
Download

 


Regulation remains the most mentioned emerging risk

Examples of risks include:

  • Environmental regulation (e.g. new legislation around sustainability reporting)
  • Financial reporting requirements
  • Regulation relating to the use of artificial intelligence
  • Pension regulation
  • Data ethics and privacy


Regulation accounts for almost 9% of the emerging risks mentioned in external reports. 


A significant rise in geopolitical emerging risks

Examples of risks include:

  • Trade disputes (e.g. between US and China) 
  • East-West divide, increasing reaction against globalisation
  • Rise of populism and nationalism
  • Russia-Ukraine war
  • Competition for resources
  • Impact of Brexit on UK-EU relations

 

Geopolitical emerging risks accounted for 7.6% of emerging risks in our Horizon Scanning Tool in 2023, compared to 5% in 2022.

top 10 emerging risks
Download all emerging risks of 2023
Categorised using our two-tier taxonomy
Download

 


Health is mentioned less than in 2022

Examples of risks include:

  • Pandemics
  • Infectious diseases
  • Antimicrobial resistance
  • Chronic disease
  • Mental health


In 2022, Health accounted for 7% of emerging risks mentioned, compared to 5% in 2023. While this could be a sign of recovery from the pandemic, it may also be a consequence of other emerging risks (e.g. geopolitical tensions, cyber-attacks, macroeconomic effects) becoming more prominent for organisations.


Horizon Scanning Tool

Horizon Scanning Tool

Created for: several Risk Leadership Network members who wanted to save time sense-checking and validating their emerging risk reporting.

Data included: Data and trends on the emerging risks included in company annual reports (FTSE 100, S&P 500 and ASX 20-listed companies, plus others requested by members) as well as reports from the World Economic Forum, insurers/reinsurers and consultancies.

Used to: Save time collating external data on emerging risk, validate your approach, and identify blind spots.

Accessible by: An interactive database, available as one of the many bespoke resources created for Risk Leadership Network members.

Find out more with the information on this page, which includes the option to book a demo.

 


Looking ahead - supporting CROs and heads of risk on emerging risk

Whilst we created the Horizon Scanning Tool to help our members save time with their emerging risk reporting, it's just one of the many ways we're supporting Risk Leadership Network members with their emerging risk priorities.

From embedding risk into an organisation's risk management process to identifying blind spots in the power and utilities sector, or using scenario analysis to help the business understand the potential impact of emerging risks (and many more) we're facilitating targeted collaborations to support our members' priorities. Book an introductory call to find out more about the solutions we're providing and how we could work with you on your specific priorities.

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