Rising civil unrest and protest activity become key concerns for insurers: Allianz Commercial

Civil unrest and protest activity have become a key concern for companies and insurers around the world, a recent report by Allianz Commercial has revealed.

According to the Allianz Risk Barometer 2025, businesses have ranked political risks and violence as a top 10 global risk for the past three years, with civil unrest being the biggest concern for more than 50% of businesses participating in Allianz Commercial’s report.

Since 2017, there have been over 800 significant anti-government protests in more than 150 countries, without counting the ongoing social unrest in the Balkans and Türkiye.

2024 alone saw over 160 events, with 18% of protests lasting more than three months.

Following the “super election year” in 2024, policy changes and economic hardships resulting from tariff wars will continue to trigger protests and flashpoints in many countries, analysts noted.

Additionally, an increase in terrorist attacks from religious and political extremists motivated by both far-right and left ideologies – has become a major concern for businesses in the coming year.

Companies should adapt to the volatile and uncertain geopolitical landscape to mitigate risks and avoid negative surprises, Allianz analysts advise.

“Political violence remains a top 10 global business risk according to our customers. Politics is increasingly perceived as being dominated by populism, blame and division, geopolitics by nationalism and a changing world order, and economics by mismanagement, corruption, and continually rising disparity between the ‘rich’ and the rest,” says Srdjan Todorovic, Head of Political Violence and Hostile Environment Solutions at Allianz Commercial.

Adding: “Political violence activity can impact businesses in many ways. 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.”

Allianz report revealed that civil unrest has now become the major political violence concern for businesses around the globe.

Moreover, the impact of civil unrest or strikes, riots and civil commotion (SRCC) activity also ranks as the top concern in countries such as Colombia, France, South Africa, the UK and the US.

In the top 20 countries for frequency of protest and riot activity around the world during 2024, there were more than 80,000 incidents alone, with India, US, France, Germany, Türkiye and Spain among the hotspots, according to Allianz Research.

Insurers share this view, Allianz stated, as they have seen the Strikes, Riots and Civil Commotion Clause (SRCC) peril increase in frequency and severity in recent years.

In some places SRCC events have a minor impact, yet these can still trigger long-lasting changes in the societies they affect. In certain hotspot territories losses can rival or surpass those from natural catastrophe, analysts highlight.

Todorovic added: “All kinds of civil unrest and protest activity remain a problem. Contributing factors such as high inflation, wealth inequality, food and fuel prices, climate anxieties and concerns about civil liberties or perceived assaults on democracy have not eased.”

Additionally, religious and political terrorism is on the rise. This includes a growing number of far right supporters and far left movements, as well as increasing frequency of plots and attacks from Islamist groups and individuals.

“Businesses need to be alive to the shapeshifting nature of political violence risk and protect their people and property by ensuring safe and robust business continuity planning is in place in event of an incident. Companies also need to review their insurance. Property policies may cover political violence claims in some cases, but specialist protection is also available,” explains Todorovic.

Concluding: “Businesses with multi-country exposures are showing a greater interest in political violence coverage but there is also greater engagement from the SME and mid-corp space about these risks, a true reflection of increasing concern in this segment.”

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