International Political unrest is a growing risk for companies, according to analysis
According to an analysis by Allianz 2024, the world has become even more turbulent. According to the analysis, the increase in protests and political unrest associated with the uncertain global situation is becoming a growing risk for companies.
09.04.2025, 01:16
SDA
With the exception of Latin America, the number of demonstrations and protests increased in all regions of the world in 2024, as the corporate insurer Allianz Commercial, which is part of the Munich-based Dax group, writes in the new edition of its annual report. According to the report, there were over 80,000 cases of protest in the 20 countries most affected, with India leading the way with over 20,000.
This includes rallies and political expressions of opinion of all kinds: peaceful and violent demonstrations, strikes and other forms of protest such as road blockades by climate activists. The USA, France, Pakistan and Mexico were behind the leader India.
Costs sometimes higher than for natural disasters
"The growing insecurity and frustration is reflected in the rapid increase in protests and uprisings," commented Srdjan Todorovic, Allianz Commercial's expert on political violence. Protests against governments only make up a comparatively small proportion of all demonstrations in terms of numbers, but can often last for months. The ongoing protests by opposition movements in Turkey and Serbia against the governments there have not yet been fully included in the analysis.
In some countries, the consequential economic costs caused by political unrest, riots and strikes are higher than the losses caused by natural disasters, according to the insurer.
Threat of terrorism
In Europe, the experts at Allianz Commercial see a growing threat from terrorism in particular: 67 attacks last year were roughly twice as many as in the previous year, the authors of the report write, citing figures from the Australian research institute "Vision of Humanity". According to the Alliance, the threat to Europe from Islamist attacks is a growing concern. However, violence by right-wing and left-wing extremists has also increased in several countries.
Apart from this, the Alliance expects a further increase in sabotage attempts against infrastructure and companies in Europe, particularly from Russia, North Korea and Iran.
