A Changed World? Perceptions and experiences of risk in the Covid age
In a rapidly changing world, understanding the risks individuals face, and how they perceive them, is crucial to keeping people safe.
This first report of the 2021 World Risk Poll provides new global insights that identify the differences between people’s thoughts about, and experiences of risk before and after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The findings can be used by governments, regulators, businesses, NGOs, and communities to target their policies and carry out meaningful interventions where it’s most needed.
Watch our video about risk in the Covid age.
Stories
More people globally feel less safe than they did five years previously
In 2021, over a third of people (34%) across the world said they felt less safe than they did five years previously, compared with 30% in 2019. The biggest regional rises were seen in Central and Western Africa, North America, and Southeast Asia.
Road crashes and crime and violence named as top risks that people worry about
In response to an open question, the World Risk Poll findings found that people named road crashes (13%) and crime and violence (12%) as the risks they most worry about.
Work-related harm remains one of the most under-estimated risks globally
New data from the World Risk Poll reveals that in 2021, almost a quarter (24%) of people worldwide said they or someone they know had experienced serious harm from the work they did; but fewer than one in five (19%) worry that they might be harmed at work.
Experience of serious harm from severe weather increased from 2019 to 2021
The World Risk Poll reveals that people’s experience of serious harm from severe weather is one of the areas that has increased the most globally, from 22% in 2019 to 27% 2021.
Expert comment
Infographics
Informational graphics for journalists, bloggers and sharing on social media.
Click below to see the full list of infographic assets, free for editorial use and promotion of the 2021 World Risk Poll.
A world of risk: country overviews
Explore the everyday risks people face in different countries
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