Four in 10 companies point to cybercrime as their main concern for the fourth year in a row. There was an increased perception of the emergency regarding this topic, which now appears as a priority for 36% of businesspeople. 10 years ago, this type of risk caught the attention of only 12% of companies in most countries. The data is part of a survey carried out by the Allianz insurance group with 3,778 risk managers in 106 countries. The survey, named Allianz Risk Barometer, is in its 14th edition.
The study interviewed managers from small, medium and large companies, classified according to each company’s annual budget. Around 40% of the responses came from companies considered large, with balance sheets above 500 million dollars; 30% came from the averages, with balances between 100 and 500 million dollars; and the rest of small companies, with production below 100 million dollars per year.
Cybercrime, in addition to being the biggest concern on the global average (38%), also leads among Brazilian companies. Colombia, the Philippines, Morocco and South Africa also witnessed the emergence of this topic for their business community, with unprecedented results. Researchers attribute this change to rapid advances in artificial intelligence technologies. The companies that highlighted the topic, in general, have a large part of their services operating virtually, such as those in the financial, telecommunications, media, technology and legal services sectors. Aviation, chemical and entertainment industries also highlighted the topic.
Secondly, managers point to concern about business interruption, with 31% of citations this year and in 2024. This risk is related to events that can impact supply chains and global trade. The topic has appeared among the first two choices of respondents during the last decade of research, which reflects events such as the 2020 pandemic and the various wars that have occurred, and was the main cause of alarm in the Pacific coast region of Asia, including to China.
In the Americas, businesspeople from Mexico, with a strong port flow, also chose the topic as sensitive, followed closely by natural catastrophes. Business interruption mainly affects the areas of energy, transport, factories (heavy and assembly), food and the hotel sector. For researchers, the fear is mainly motivated by very short deadlines and strong competition between companies, in addition to the need for quick and integrated responses at a global level.
The third risk factor, with priority for 31% of respondents in this edition compared to 26% in the previous survey, are natural catastrophes, such as floods, large fires and related events, but not so far from fifth position, which is climate change, with 19% of citations in 2025 and 18% last year.
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“With regard to the risk categories of climate change and natural catastrophes, these categories are also clearly interconnected. The category of natural catastrophes largely refers to the short-term impact caused by damage/disruption from events such as storms, floods, forest fires, droughts, etc. The climate change category takes a more long-term approach, covering factors such as transition risks, implementation of decarbonization strategies, the large volume of new regulations, increased compliance obligations, political uncertainty and problems with transparency of data, among others”, explained the Risk Research Manager in Latin America at Allianz, Pablo Cabrera.
In fourth place is legal and legislative uncertainty, a priority for 25% of those surveyed, compared to 19% in the previous edition. It involves changes in national and international rules and reflects the North American election, as the research was collected precisely in the months of October and November, coinciding with the election, in which Republican Donald Trump was victorious on November 6.
Similar risks occupy positions 7 to 9, with what the Allianz group placed as risks linked to macroeconomic development, such as inflation and the impact of economic policies, a priority for 15% of respondents this year compared to 19% in 2024, development and market (14% in 2025 and 13% in 2024) and political risks, such as strikes, coups d’état, wars, and the like (14% both years).
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Closing the global top 10 are the risk of explosions and fire, with 17% (19% in 2024), and the risk posed by new technologies, with 10% of citations (9% in 2024).
“Many of the top risks in our Risk Barometer are interconnected. For example, business interruption is, of course, a consequence of many other events, such as natural disasters, cyber attacks or outages, insolvency, or political risks such as conflict or civil unrest. However, survey respondents have always identified business interruption as an independent risk category since the first survey, carried out 14 years ago”, explains Cabrera.
“The risks identified in the Allianz Risk Barometer represent those that companies and risk management and insurance professionals perceive as most broadly significant. In many cases, these risks drive the development of mitigation strategies through various transfer and prevention tools. Although not all identified risks are insurable, there are mitigation tools and actions available for all of them,” said Cabrera.
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“Insurers and reinsurers continually adjust and improve their products to meet these expectations and needs. However, the time required to develop new products can sometimes be longer than expected, as this involves collecting objective data, assessing impacts, and calculating probabilities — complex tasks that require effort and precision. significant”, he added.
