As the world’s population becomes increasingly concentrated in cities, they become more vulnerable to risk events. To understand the risk, Lloyd’s compiled a City Risk Index, detailing the threat landscape for the world’s leading 279 cities.
The index estimates how much economic output (GDP@Risk) a city could potentially lose due to 22 different threats ranging from stock market crash to solar storm.
Here are some highlights from the report:
- Across all 279 cities, $546.50 billion is at risk from all 22 threats.
- Man-made threats account for 59 percent of the total GDP@Risk – with market crash the largest single threat, with cities exposed to losses of $103.33 billion on an annual basis.
- The 10 cities with the highest exposure have a combined $126.82 billion of GDP@Risk, almost a quarter of the global total, with Tokyo standing to lose more than any other city.
- Climate-related risks account for $122.98 billion of GDP under threat, and this sum will grow as extreme weather events grow in frequency and severity.
- If cities were to improve their resilience, global GDP exposure to loss would drop by $73.4 billion.