Climate change and cybersecurity have ranked as the top future risks in an annual Axa global survey, with pandemics slipping back to third place.

CEO Thomas Buberl says the change at the top is positive after it was feared last year that health risks may overshadow the climate emergency, while the report also highlights the increase in cyber risk with the “massive use” of digital solutions during lockdowns.

“We have seen an explosion in the number of cyber-attacks, sometimes with serious consequences for companies and administrations,” he says. “This risk is here to stay, so prevention and innovation will be key to building collective resilience.”

Pandemics and infectious diseases dropped from first to third place, but the crisis has had a lasting impact on the perception of health and medicine risks.

“Until last year, when pandemic risk shot to the top of the ranking, no health risks had ever broken into the top five,” the report says.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has not only boosted sentiments of vulnerability to health risks, but has also transformed the existing difficulties facing public health systems.”

The Axa Future Risks survey asks respondents to rank their top five risks, based on their potential impact on society over the next 5 to 10 years. This year it surveyed 3500 risk experts from 60 countries and partnered with Ipsos to survey 20,000 individuals from 15 countries.

Climate change was the top risk in Europe while America ranked cybersecurity highest. The Asia Pacific and Middle East region and Africa put pandemics and infectious diseases first.

Expert and general public respondents who selected climate change in their top five overwhelmingly identified physical risks as a primary concern, as opposed to financial or liability risks.

Some 61% of experts selected cyber among their top-five, making it the most selected risk, above both climate and pandemics.

Other risks in the top ten are geopolitical instability, social discontent and local conflicts, natural resources and biodiversity risks, new security threats and terrorism, financial stability risks, macro-economic risks and risks related to artificial intelligence and big data.

The report is available here.