Political Risk Trends and Hotspots for 2014

Political violence and underlying societal risks are rising for direct foreign investors, according to Maplecroft’s Political Risk Atlas 2014.

The growing disparity between deteriorating political freedoms and social gains is elevating the risk of instability and unrest significantly in many countries.

Political violence and underlying societal risks are rising for direct foreign investors, according to Maplecroft’s Political Risk Atlas 2014.

Key findings from the Political Risk Atlas include:

• Since 2010, 17 of the 197 countries included in the Marsh-Maplecroft Political Risk Map have experienced a significant increase in their level of dynamic political risk. Nine of these countries are located in the Middle East and North Africa.
• The risk of political violence has increased in 63% of the countries in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) since 2010, the year prior to the Arab Spring.
• Over the past four years, more than one-fifth of all countries were host to a significant increase in their level of structural political risk, a measure of long-term trends and engrained features of a country, such as human rights, resource security, development, and climate change vulnerability.