Deloitte’s latest CFO survey has identified geopolitics as the top risk to UK businesses over the next 12 months. It has also been rated as the top risk in the last three consecutive surveys.
The survey asked CFOs to assess the channels through which adverse geopolitical events could damage their own businesses. By far the greatest concern was that geopolitical developments could trigger cyber attacks. This was followed by the risks of a general fall in demand across the economy, and disruption to energy supplies or higher energy prices.
When asked about the outlook on geopolitical risk facing their business, 51% of CFOs expect the level of risk to increase over the next three years, with only 3% expecting it to decrease over this time.
While CFOs are more optimistic about the general outlook, and uncertainty has decreased, that does not apply to geopolitics. The overwhelming majority of CFOs expect geopolitical risk to increase or stay the same in the next three years. On this front at least, CFOs are anticipating further uncertainty.
Ian Stewart, chief economist, Deloitte
