Australian companies have ranked energy price shocks ahead of cyber attacks as their main threat for the second consecutive year in a World Economic Forum survey.

Fears of a spike in energy prices overtook asset bubbles as the top risk in last year’s Regional Risks for Doing Business study.

This year cyber attacks place second, followed by asset bubbles and failure of regional and global governance. Fiscal crises and failure of critical infrastructure share fifth place.

Globally, unemployment or underemployment take top spot, followed by failure of national governance and energy price shocks.

Australia is “among the leading global energy exporters, but policy failures under successive governments have seen… energy infrastructure fall into disrepair”, the survey report says.

“A badly managed transition from ageing coal-fired power generation to renewables has led to supply shortages and rapid price increases. This in turn is likely
to explain the sensitivity of Australian businesses to further price shocks.”

The global survey, conducted between January and June, asked 12,548 respondents to list their top five risks from a selection of 30.

Marsh & McLennan and Zurich are partners on the report.