2021 Risk indexes
At the heart of the World Risk Poll are three new indexes which track risk across the world.
1. The World Worry Index
The World Worry Index shows the countries who worry the most and least and which everyday risks they worry about.
Everyday risks measured by the Poll include: severe weather, violent crime, work, food, water, road crashes and mental health issues.
2. The Experience of Harm Index
The Experience of Harm Index highlights the countries where citizens have the highest levels of experience of everyday risk.
When compared side by side with the World Worry Index, these two indexes show that there can be considerable differences between the way people feel about risks and the actual harms they experience.
3. The Resilience Index
The Resilience Index aims to identify the groups that are most, and least, able to manage “shocks” – instances when risks materialise into disruptive events that threaten their safety.
Composed of Individual, Household, Community and Societal indicators; the Resilience Index provides a broad indicator of overall resilience, as well as differences between countries.
Explore the indexes side by side
Understanding the Indexes
Both the Worry and Experience indexes are generated from World Risk Poll questions which assess an individuals experience of harm and perception of risk across a variety of categories. Scored out of 1, a higher value indicates either greater worry or a greater experience of harm.
The Worry and Experience Gap firstly demonstrates Worry outstrips Experience in all countries. It is also useful to identify countries with a high level of Worry but a low level of actual Experience. Understanding these gaps will be invaluable to policymakers.
The World Risk Poll Resilience Index is an average of four aspects of resilience (Individual, Household, Community, and Social), which are themselves composites of several questions from the 2021 World Risk Poll. As above, the Resilience Index is scored out of 1 with a higher value indicating greater resilience. Explore the World Risk Poll Resilience Index further using our interactive data visualisation and explorer.
Exploring the data
- By default, the table is sorted based on the Worry Index; this can be adjusted by clicking on the column titles or in the menu to the top right.
- A specific country, or group of countries, can be selected using the drop-down box.
- Data can be exported for external use by right clicking on the table or using the menu in the top right.
“Seldom in history does one get a front row seat on risk perceptions of such a large proportion of the world’s population. The Lloyd’s Register Foundation World Risk Poll is a treasured evidence base that policymakers can finally use to design risk communication strategies that fit a country’s context and culture. That’s a game changer to create a safer world.”
Dr. Reuben Ng
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and Lloyd’s Register Foundation Institute for the Public Understanding of Risk, National University of Singapore