The ongoing crises in Egypt and Syria may have heightened executives’ awareness of geopolitical instability as a risk to both global and domestic growth, according to the McKinsey & Company survey Economic Conditions Snapshot, September 2013.
Among respondents working from offices in North America, geopolitical instability was the most commonly cited threat to domestic growth in the next 12 months, with 47 percent of respondents there listing it as a top risk.
According to the survey, the next most commonly-cited risks to growth, “domestic political conflicts” and “lower consumer demand,” were named by 42 percent and 32 percent of North American executives, respectively.
North American business leaders are not alone in their growing concern over the geopolitical climate. According to survey results, 69 percent of global executives cited geopolitical instability as a risk to global growth in the coming year, up 18 percentage points from June’s survey.