Key Risks to Watch in 2026 and How German Organizations Can Build Resilience

2025 was a year that can be summarized with one key word: volatile. 

A number of legacy and emerging risks will be top of mind for German business leaders as this year progresses, with volatility remaining at the forefront. Key risks include areas such as growing AI-powered cyber threats, supply chain instability, tariffs and geopolitics, and more dynamic extreme weather events, just to name a few. These topics all present a range of risks that could threaten stability for people, organizations, and communities alike. 

Simply put - volatility will be front and center, and organizations need to prepare and build resilience into their operating models to help counteract any adverse effects.

The Berlin blackout at the start of the year serves as a timely reminder that critical infrastructure and power supply must be protected against a variety of hazards. Disruption of energy networks, whether caused by cyberattacks, technical failures, or extreme weather, can have wide-ranging impacts across sectors and communities. For German organizations, this underscores the importance of robust risk management and the need to safeguard essential systems from multiple threats.

1. Continued Growth of Cyber Threats

Building cyber resilience in 2026 will be an ever-important theme, and not just for large enterprises. Increasingly, we see greater exposure and risk across mid-sized organizations, which may lack some of the technological maturity that bigger companies often possess. With that, we see three main areas where companies should have elevated awareness levels around when it comes to cyber defense.

• Ransomware attacks – where criminals use ransomware to encrypt company or personal data and demand payment for its release. These attacks often target critical infrastructure and public services, causing significant disruption.
• Phishing and social engineering – this is when bad actors use phishing emails and messages to attempt to trick users into revealing sensitive information or installing malware. Attackers increasingly use sophisticated techniques tailored to German companies and individuals.
• Supply chain attacks – we see more cyber-criminal activity around exploiting vulnerabilities in third-party software or service providers to access larger targets. This is a growing concern for German industries with complex supply chains.

Our recommendation is to ensure cyber resilience awareness has a presence at the top levels of your organization. Cyber can no longer be relegated to a back office/tech only IT mandate – it must have ownership, investment and planning across all areas of the business to ensure risks are mitigated.

2. Protecting Renewables

Germany is clearly one of the leaders in renewables across Europe, with an increasingly dominant share of Germany’s electricity consumption coming from renewable energy sources – with wind power (onshore and offshore), solar and photovoltaics as the clear winners. However, our research shows that renewable infrastructure is at greater risk than ever to extreme weather events which can disrupt continuity or severely damage equipment – leading to significant repair or rebuild costs. 

Investing in protection measures will help limit adverse impacts from strengthening weather conditions and will also help to encourage continued investments into the renewables sector overall. If you’re an organization with significant energy needs powered by renewables, it’s critical to ensure they can withstand strengthening storms – while also having a business continuity plan in place for the worst-case scenarios. 

3. Supply Chain Uncertainty

Last year was one filled with instability and uncertainty due to continued geo-political upheaval. Whether the U.S. tariff agenda and related trade restrictions, the war in Ukraine (and sanctions), stubborn inflation, or developing policy to offset China, these trends all heavily impact how businesses in Germany invest and plan. Beyond this, it creates greater complexity when it comes to supply chains. 

Diversity of suppliers will be an ever-important topic for business leaders in the year ahead, as heavy reliance on a single or limited set of suppliers – especially for raw materials, semiconductors, or energy — can create sources of vulnerability. To ensure stability of operations, continuity of complex logistics ecosystems, or to have accurate pricing predictability for customers, it’s important to leverage data and forecasting capabilities to their fullest and embed real-time decision making so the organization can react and pivot quickly when needed.

4. Labor Crunch

The countries that lead and win in the years ahead will be the ones with a workforce advantage. Skilled labor – whether around cutting-edge tech development, or running specialized factory equipment, will continue to be top of mind for business leaders. It’s never been a more critical moment to invest in the skills and capabilities of your workforce and equipping your people with the confidence and leadership to thrive. Maintaining a high-performance culture needs to be a top priority for German businesses in 2026 and beyond – and ensuring we remain an intellectual capital leader. Without this advantage, economic risks are great.

Creating resilience is no easy mandate. 

For the bold organizations that can forecast, proactively invest, and prepare with confidence, a culture of resilience is within reach. This presents the best opportunity to reduce key risks that could derail operations or create instability. At Zurich Resilience Solutions, we see the world of risk as one that presents unbound opportunities for companies to strengthen operations and elevate risk management practices in 2026.