
According to the Global Risks Report 2025 released by the World Economic Forum (WEF), the biggest threats to the Philippines in the next two years are an economic downturn and poverty, which could put a damper on the government goal to bring down the poverty incidence to a single-digit level by the end of 2028.
Other top risks for the country identified in the report are inflation, food supply shortage, and unemployment or lack of economic opportunity.
Globally, state-based armed conflict emerged as the top risk that may present a material crisis this year. Other top risks expected to affect the world this year are extreme weather events, geoeconomics confrontation, misinformation and disinformation, societal polarization, economic downturn, critical change to Earth systems, lack of economic opportunity or unemployment, erosion of human rights, and/or civic freedoms and inequality.
For the next two years, misinformation and disinformation were identified as the biggest global risks, followed by extreme weather events and state-based armed conflict.
In the long term, or over the next 10 years, the WEF report showed extreme weather events, which are expected to become even more severe, as the top global risk.
By identifying the risks, the WEF aims to provide leaders with foresight to address emerging challenges to build a more resilient future.
Risks are part of life, and while there are years that there are less of it, there are also times when we have to be more prepared. The top risks in our country, according to the WEF report, are mostly related to the economy and its management, which are matters that our government and its leaders will have to be aware of and prepare for. Other risks, such as extreme weather events, should be no surprise to a nation as vulnerable as the Philippines, while the threat of misinformation and disinformation should be of keen concern for our leaders.
The degree at which our leaders and public officials are proactively preparing the country for these identified risks will be manifested in the months that will follow. Hopefully they prove themselves competent and ready to deal with these threats to our nation and its people.*