Europe dominates FM Global resilience index
European countries dominate the top ten most resilient nations in FM Global’s latest 2024 Global Resilience Index, which measures 130 countries’ ability to withstand a range of 18 risk factors impacting businesses. Denmark retained its position at the top of the ranking, followed by Luxembourg, which knocked Singapore into third place from second in 2023.
Other changes saw the Central US region fall from sixth place to tenth while US East fell out of the top ten. Norway and Belgium entered the top ten in the 2024 index.
2024 FM Global Resilience Index
- Denmark
- Luxembourg
- Singapore
- Switzerland
- Germany
- Sweden
- Finland
- Norway
- Belgium
- Central US
The commercial property insurer updated the index factors this year, adding six measures to reflect the rapidly changing nature of risks faced by global businesses. Three new environmental measures have been added: climate change exposure, greenhouse gas emissions and water stress.
Education, inflation and internet usage have also been included for the first time, joining existing factors such as cybersecurity, political risk, climate change exposure, logistics and fire risk quality.
“The new measures reflect emerging factors and risks to ensure the index continues to support strategic considerations for global businesses as they make critical decisions such as site selection, supply chain design and loss prevention,” FM Global said.
The insurers said that its index now includes twice as many resilience factors as its inaugural report in 2014. Users can see each country’s profile individually and view a resilience score out of 100 for each risk factor, helping companies to assess exposure facing their operations.
Chris Majka, staff vice-president of data visualisation and reporting at FM Global, said: “Businesses need incisive information to thrive in today’s challenging and constantly changing environment. With these new factors, the 2024 FM Global Resilience Index offers organisations important new insights as they make strategic decisions that could affect their operations and performance for years to come.”
FM Global said countries ranked in the top 50 of its Global Resilience Index recover more than 30% faster from property losses, on average, than locations in other countries.
Bill Bradshaw, operations manager in London at FM Global said the UK ranked as the 15th most resilient business environment overall, but inflation and supply chain risks weigh on firms.
“It will come as no surprise that inflation and supply chain issues are pressing concerns for businesses in 2024, not only in the UK but globally. It’s notable that this year’s FM Global Resilience Index alludes to these trends in the UK, with inflation dropping seven ranks and logistics falling 14 ranks compared to 2023,” he said.
Bradshaw said businesses should conduct location-specific exposure assessments, and explore alternative strategies to mitigate risks effectively.
“Having visibility across the entire supply chain, rather than focusing solely on individual facilities, is paramount. This approach enables businesses to quantify risks more accurately, especially amid climate-related issues impacting various parts of the supply chain differently,” he said.
Bradshaw also advocates investment in resilience as businesses face rising material and labour costs. “To ensure that businesses are investing in the most relevant risk mitigation projects and to ensure adequate insurance coverage is purchased, it’s important to have up-to-date and precise insured values. Collaborating with insurers and third-party appraisers is essential for businesses to verify and optimise information, bridging any gaps between nominal values and actual losses,” he said.
