2020 FM Global Resilience Index Focuses on Post-Pandemic Business Recovery

Resilience is never more critical than in a world shocked by pandemic, and the top-ranked countries in the 2020 FM Global Resilience Index possess strong foundations for a robust rebound.

The annual index, published today by FM Global, one of the world's largest commercial property insurers, is the definitive ranking of nearly 130 countries by the resilience of their business environments. It provides companies with objective information about countries' economic, risk quality and supply chain resilience – factors that create a springboard for businesses working to recover from the pandemic.

“Especially after a crisis like COVID-19, resilience is critical for people, countries and businesses,” said Kevin Ingram, executive vice president and chief financial officer (CFO) of FM Global, in an interview. “A country's ranking in the 2020 FM Global Resilience Index is a good indication of how its business environment will fare and how quickly organizations there might rebound after taking the economic blow of the coronavirus. These are critical insights for businesses making far-reaching choices as they build facilities, extend supply chains and cultivate new markets.”

In addition to outlining the post-pandemic business landscape, the FM Global Resilience Index stands as a dynamic reminder that conventional business risks – hurricanes, flood, drought, fire, earthquakes, cyber attack, oil shocks and political upheaval – continue to threaten operations and overall value. That's worth remembering on the eve of an Atlantic hurricane season projected to see above-normal activity.

“A unique event like a contagious viral disease unfortunately does not preclude other terrible events,” said Ingram. “Only diligent, rational risk-and-resilience analysis and loss prevention is sufficient for preserving a company's value through chaos.”

The index's top-ranked regions (in descending order) are Norway, Switzerland, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Luxembourg, Austria, Central United States and Eastern United States (both the U.S. and China comprise three regions with differing natural hazard exposure).

Norway occupies the top spot for the second year in a row, supported by strong economic productivity, a stable political environment, low corruption, high natural hazard risk quality and robust corporate governance.

The bottom 10 (in descending order) are Nicaragua, Nepal, Mali, Mozambique, Iran, Lebanon, Chad, Ethiopia, Venezuela and Haiti.

A major riser in this year's index is Taiwan, which climbed 14 places to 29th place based on improvements in its urbanization rate, natural hazard risk quality, and quality of its transport and utility infrastructure. Taiwan's urbanization rate – one of 12 index drivers – improved dramatically, moving the country up 42 places in that metric (the lower the rate, the lower the stress on infrastructure and the higher the resilience rank). The biggest faller in the index is the Dominican Republic, which fell 19 places to 90th place due to increases in its urbanization rate and cyber risk.

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