Soaring levels of civil unrest and political violence is a key concern for businesses of all sizes as well as for their insurers, according to a report published by Allianz Commercial.
The impact of civil unrest or strikes, riots and civil commotion (SRCC) activity is the political risk and violence exposure that companies fear most, with more than 50% of businesses ranking SRCC as their main worry, said the report, titled “Political violence and civil unrest trends 2025.”
The report derives much of its data and conclusions from the Allianz Risk Barometer 2025, an annual survey of global businesses, which revealed in January that political risks and violence has been a top 10 global risk in four of the past five years–2025, 2024, 2023, and 2021.
Part of the problem for businesses is the unpredictability of the size, location, and length of these incidents, said the Allianz Commercial report, explaining that unlike other perils, such as flood or windstorm, it is difficult to prepare in the same way to mitigate losses and build contingency and business continuity plans.
Political violence activity can affect businesses in many ways, the report indicated. “In addition to endangering the safety of employees and customers, those in the immediate vicinity of unrest can suffer business interruption losses and material damage to property or assets, while indirect damage can be inflicted on companies in the form of ‘loss of attraction’ or ‘denial of access’ to their premises.”
Excluding the ongoing social unrest in the Balkans and Turkey, Allianz noted, there have been over 800 significant anti-government protests in more than 150 countries, “with more than 160 significant events taking place during 2024 alone.” The report said that 18% of these protests lasted for more than three months.
“Allianz research shows that in the top 20 countries for frequency of protest and riot activity around the world during 2024, there were more than 80,000 incidents,” with India, the U.S., France, Germany, Turkey, and Spain among the top hotspots.
“As unrest can now spread more quickly and widely–thanks in part to the power of social media–economic and insured losses from such activity can be considerable,” said the Allianz Commercial report.
“The patterns of protests and violence over the last 10 years has shown that targets such as government buildings, transport infrastructure, retail premises, and distribution centers for critical goods can be specific but, often, businesses are victims of their locality and their footprint.”
