International SOS has released its annual interactive Risk Map 2025

As global security and health risks continue to evolve, International SOS’s 2025 Risk Map provides organisations with medical and security risk ratings reflecting the impact of disruptive events such as conflicts, infectious diseases and extreme weather events.

Sally Llewellyn, Global Security Director at International SOS, explained: “We haven’t decreased security risk ratings for any country this year. Geopolitical tensions have been the most prominent trigger, with changes to risk ratings for locations such as Sudan and Lebanon, where the intensity and expansion of conflict now impact more population centres and have pushed the overall risk rating up.”

Sudan, Lebanon, Israel, Iraq, and Myanmar have all undergone multiple risk rating reviews and expansions of high or extreme-risk zones throughout 2024 because of conflict. Other increases in security risk ratings include New Caledonia increasing from low to medium, based on an assessment of the longer-term impact of social unrest, economic decline, and related crime. Crime trends and increased social unrest have resulted in changes to specific countries or regions in South Africa, Mexico and Kenya. Reductions in militancy have also resulted in changes in risk ratings in parts of the Philippines, Thailand and Laos.

Dr Katherine O’Reilly, Regional Medical Director at International SOS, commented: “Two notable changes in medical risk this year are Bolivia, from medium to high, and Libya, from extreme to high. Changes to medical risks are based on factors including the standard [of] and access to healthcare facilities, availability of medicines and the prevalence of infections and diseases. Using data-driven tools is critical for organisations to maintain their duty of care responsibilities and protect their workforce, whether their employees are travelling or working domestically.” 

Even in the ongoing “permacrisis” environment, the new research highlights that some of the most significant risks are those for which respondents said they were least prepared, including conflict, geopolitical tensions, and protests.

A recent global survey from the International SOS Foundation highlighted the impact of extreme weather on business operations, and employee health and safety.