Allianz Risk, part of the Allianz Group and a provider of insurance solutions and risk advisory to commercial and corporate clients, has released the Allianz Risk Barometer 2026, outlining the most significant risks expected to impact businesses around the world in the year ahead.
Survey results indicate that cyber incidents remain a major concern for organizations, while artificial intelligence (AI) has quickly become one of the most prominent emerging risks.
According to data from Allianz Risk, cyber incidents have become the number one business risk in the world for the fifth consecutive year, with 42% of survey participants believing that cyber incidents are the number one business risk in the world. This is the highest level of cyber risk recorded since the barometer was launched, reflecting the growing gap between cyber threats and all other risk categories.
The Allianz Risk report said cyber incidents are seen as a major concern across all regions, including the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. The results highlight businesses’ increasing reliance on digital infrastructure as cyber threats become more frequent, targeted and sophisticated.
Michael Bruch, global head of Allianz Business Risk Advisory Advisory Services, said: “Investments by large companies in cybersecurity and resilience have paid off, ensuring they can detect and respond to attacks early. However, cyber risks continue to evolve. Organizations are increasingly reliant on third-party providers for critical data and services, and artificial intelligence is exacerbating threats, increasing the attack surface and increasing existing vulnerabilities.”
Artificial intelligence shows the most significant change in the 2026 rankings, jumping from 10th place last year to second place, with 32% of respondents citing it as a major source of risk. Allianz Risk attributes this growth to the rapid integration of AI systems into business operations across nearly all industries.
Ludovic Subran, chief economist at Allianz, added: “Businesses increasingly view AI not only as a powerful strategic opportunity, but also as a complex source of operational, legal and reputational risks. In many cases, AI adoption is outpacing governance, regulation and workforce readiness.”
“As more companies try to scale in 2026, they will face more system reliability issues, data quality limitations, integration barriers, and skilled talent shortages. At the same time, new liability risks are emerging around automated decision-making, biased or discriminatory models, intellectual property misuse, and uncertainty about who is responsible when AI-generated output causes harm.”
The Allianz Risk Barometer 2026 shows business interruption falling to third place, marking the first time the risk has not ranked among the top two risks. However, Allianz Risk stresses that business disruption remains a key issue as it is often a direct consequence of other threats such as cyber incidents, supply chain disruptions or political developments. Nearly one-third of respondents continue to rank it as a top concern, underscoring its continued relevance to enterprise risk planning.
Allianz Risk also looked at changes in other areas of the rankings. Natural disasters have dropped to fifth place compared with the previous year, driven by a decline in overall losses in 2025. In contrast, political risk and violence have risen to seventh place, their highest position so far in the survey. Allianz Risk links this growth to heightened uncertainty over international relations, regional conflicts and government intervention in trade and economic policy.
The report highlights continued pressure on global supply chains due to shifts in trade policy and increasing barriers to cross-border trade. Allianz Risk noted that trade restrictions have increased dramatically over the past year, affecting a large portion of global commodity flows. Despite these pressures, only a small proportion of respondents report that their supply chains are highly resilient.
Allianz Risk noted that this environment is prompting companies to rethink sourcing strategies, including greater regionalization and closer collaboration with preferred trading partners. Legislative and regulatory changes, including tariffs and trade rules, remain the fourth-ranked global risk, with an increasing number of respondents identifying this area as worthy of attention.
Allianz Risk concluded that the 2026 findings reflect a business landscape shaped by closely related risks, where digital threats, emerging technologies and political developments interact to increase uncertainty.