European countries top FM Global’s resilience index but struggle on cyber risk

Sarah JollyMay 17, 2018

Business resilience to risk and disruption is highest in Switzerland, followed by Luxembourg and Sweden, finds a global index of 130 countries and jurisdictions published by FM Global. However, European countries have deteriorated when it comes to cyber resilience.

Myanmar, Nigeria and Madagascar were the bottom three ranked countries in the overall index.

Based on 12 measures of resilience across economic, risk quality and supply chain factors, FM Global said Switzerland’s infrastructure, economic productivity and stable political outlook secured the country’s top ranking in its 2018 index.

European countries performed well in the business resilience index – which also considers exposure to natural catastrophes, political risk and fire risk – and dominated the top ten (see table below). The Netherlands fell just outside the top ten, in 11th place, followed by France in 12th position and the UK in 18th.

However, many European countries performed poorly on cyber resilience and have all suffered significant decreases in cyber resilience during the past year, following the WannaCry and NotPetya cyberattacks, according to FM Global.

France ranked 101st for cyber resilience, a drop of 33 places since 2017, while the UK took 91st place, a fall of seven places. Germany fell six places to 80th. Switzerland ranked in 79th position for cyber resilience. Italy was the highest-performing European country in the cyber resilience index, taking 12th place, followed by Portugal in 28th.

At the other end of the scale, Taiwan improved its cyber resilience ranking from 107th to 50th. The top cyber slots were taken by less-developed countries where businesses carry lower cyber risk exposure.

“The risk of cyberattack, once overhyped, now threatens businesses’ very existence. Its severity varies significantly with geography,” FM Global said. “For global business leaders, cyberattacks raise the spectre of stalled operations, disrupted supply chains, class-action lawsuits and permanent brand damage,” it said, adding that the index is used by global executives to plan where to locate business.

The US, divided into three regions for the FM Global index, scored highly overall. However, when it comes to political resilience, it fell from 31st position last year to 46th place this year. FM Global said this followed turbulent diplomatic relations.

The UK, meanwhile, stood in 45th place for political resilience in the 2018 survey.

FM Global Resilience Index

Top ten countries/jurisdictions

  1. Switzerland
  2. Luxembourg
  3. Sweden
  4. Norway
  5. Germany
  6. Austria
  7. Denmark
  8. Finland
  9. US (region 3, central)
  10. US (region 1, west)

FM Global Resilience Index

Bottom ten countries/jurisdictions

  1. Myanmar
  2. Nigeria
  3. Madagascar
  4. Pakistan
  5. Lebanon
  6. Ethiopia
  7. Chad
  8. Nepal
  9. Venezuela
  10. Haiti
Sarah JollyMay 17, 2018
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