Overview
The Bank of England’s financial stability objective is to protect and enhance the stability of the financial system of the United Kingdom. The Systemic Risk Survey contributes to this objective by quantifying and tracking, on a biannual basis, market participants’ views of risks to, and their confidence in, the stability of the UK financial system.footnote [1]
The survey is generally completed by executives responsible for firms’ risk management or treasury functions. The results presented are based on responses to the survey and do not necessarily reflect the Bank of England’s views on risks to the UK financial system. Participants include UK banks and building societies, large foreign banks, asset managers, hedge funds, insurers, pension funds, large non-financial companies and central counterparties. Summary statistics are calculated by giving equal weight to each survey response.
Additional background information on the survey is available in the 2009 Q3 Quarterly Bulletin article Bank of England Systemic Risk Survey.
This report presents the results of the 2026 H1 survey, which was conducted between 19 January and 16 February 2026.
57 firms participated in the 2026 H1 survey, representing a 66% response rate.
Key results from 2026 H1 survey
- Survey respondents remain confident in the stability of the UK financial system, reporting a similar level of confidence compared to the 2025 H2 survey.
- The perceived probability of a high-impact event affecting the UK financial system over the short term is at a similar level compared to the previous survey, but lower over the medium term.
- Geopolitical risk and cyberattack remain the two most frequently cited sources of risks among participants. They are also considered the most challenging risks to manage, as well as the most likely risks to materialise.
- Geopolitical risk has reached its highest levels recorded in the survey in all three of the categories: Source of risk to the UK financial system, most challenging risks to manage, and most likely risk to materialise. Despite remaining a key concern, perceptions of cyber risk have been broadly stable across survey measures relative to recent rounds.
- The number of participants citing risks surrounding artificial intelligence has continued its upward trend since the 2023 H1 survey. There has also been a noticeable increase in participants citing the risk as the most challenging to manage, as well as the most likely to materialise.
- The proportion of respondents citing inflation risk has continued to decrease since its 2022 H2 peak.
Confidence in the UK financial system
Respondents were asked about the level of confidence they have in the stability of the UK financial system over the next three years.
Chart 1 represents the results in one weighted measure, while the figures below and in Table A1 refer to simple percentages.
Survey respondents remain confident in the stability of the UK financial system, reporting a similar level of confidence compared to the 2025 H2 survey.
- 93% of respondents judge themselves as being very confident (39%, +1 percentage point since the 2025 H2 survey), or fairly confident (54%, -3 percentage points).
- 7% of respondents judge themselves as being not very confident (+2 percentage points).
- No respondents report being completely confident, or having no confidence (unchanged since the 2025 H2 survey).
Chart 1: Confidence in the stability of the UK financial system as a whole over the next three years (a)
Footnotes
- Sources: Bank of England Systemic Risk Surveys and Bank calculations.
- (a) Respondents were asked how much confidence they had in the stability of the UK financial system as a whole over the next three years. The net percentage balance is calculated by weighting responses as follows: complete confidence (1), very confident (0.5), fairly confident (0), not very confident (-0.5) and no confidence (-1). Bars show the contribution of each component to the net percentage balance.
Probability of a high-impact event in the UK financial system
Respondents were asked for their view on the probability of a high-impact event in the UK financial system in the short and medium term.footnote [2]
Charts 2 and 3 represent results in one weighted measure, while the figures below and in Table A1 refer to simple percentages.
Respondents judge that the likelihood of a high-impact event over the short term is at a similar level compared to the previous survey, but lower over the medium term.
Over the short term (0–12 months):
- No respondents consider the likelihood of a high-impact event to be very high (unchanged since the 2025 H2 survey).
- 23% of respondents consider the likelihood of a high-impact event to be high (+4 percentage points).
- 47% of respondents consider the likelihood of a high-impact event to be medium (-3 percentage points).
- 30% of respondents consider the likelihood of a high-impact event to be low (26%, -2 percentage points) or very low (4%, +2 percentage points).
Footnotes
- Sources: Bank of England Systemic Risk Surveys and Bank calculations.
- (a) Respondents were asked what is the probability of a high-impact event in the UK financial system in the short term. And also, how they thought this probability had changed over the past six months. From the 2009 H2 survey onwards, short term was defined as 0–12 months.
- (b) Bars show the contribution of each component to the net percentage balance. The net percentage balance in this chart is calculated by weighting responses as follows: very high (1), high (0.5), medium (0), low (-0.5) and very low (-1).
Over the medium term (1–3 years):
- 2% of respondents consider the likelihood of a high-impact event to be very high (-2 percentage points).
- 42% of respondents consider the likelihood of a high-impact event to be high (unchanged since the 2025 H2 survey).
- 46% of respondents consider the likelihood of a high-impact event to be medium (-2 percentage points).
- No respondents consider the likelihood of a high-impact event to be very low (unchanged since the 2025 H2 survey), and 11% consider the likelihood to be low (+4 percentage points).
Footnotes
- Sources: Bank of England Systemic Risk Surveys and Bank calculations.
- (a) Respondents were asked what is the probability of a high-impact event in the UK financial system in the medium term, and how they thought this probability had changed over the past six months. From the 2009 H2 survey onwards, medium term was defined as 1–3 years.
- (b) See footnote (b) of Chart 2.
Sources of risk to the UK financial system
Respondents were asked to list the five risks they thought would have the greatest impact on the UK financial system if they were to materialise. To give an overview of the results, answers, which were provided in free-text format, have been grouped into the 26 categories shown in Table A2.footnote [3] Below is a list of the risks that were most frequently cited by the respondents in the 2026 H1 survey as one of their top five risks (Chart 4):
1. Geopolitical risk (cited by 95% of respondents, +10 percentage points since the 2025 H2 survey).
2. Cyberattack (82%, -2 percentage points).
3= Risks associated with a UK economic downturn (47%, -9 percentage points).
3= Risk of financial market disruption/dislocation (47%, unchanged since the 2025 H2 survey).
4. Operational risk (35%, -1 percentage points).
5. Risks surrounding artificial intelligence (32%, +11 percentage points).
The risks most commonly cited by market participants as their ‘number one’ source of risk to the UK financial system (Chart 5) were:
1. Geopolitical risk (46%, +10 percentage points).
2. Cyberattack (26%, +6 percentage points).
3. Operational risk (9%, +4 percentage points).
4. Risks associated with an overseas/global economic downturn (5%, unchanged since the 2025 H2 survey).
Geopolitical risk and cyberattack remain the two most frequently cited sources of risks that would have the greatest impact on UK the financial system should they materialise, with the proportion of participants citing geopolitical risk, as well as placing it as their ‘number one’ risk, significantly increasing to its highest levels recorded in the survey.
There has also been a noticeable increase in the number of participants citing risks surrounding artificial intelligence and UK political risk.
- The two most frequently cited risks – geopolitical risk (95%) and cyberattack (82%) – remain the most frequently cited since the return of the survey in 2021 H2 after the pause due to covid.
- Geopolitical risk also remains, by a considerable margin, the most frequently cited ‘number one’ source of risk (mentioned by 46% of respondents).
- Despite the decrease in the number of respondents citing risks associated with a UK economic downturn, it remains the third most cited risk, alongside risks of financial market disruption/dislocation.
- The number of respondents citing risks surrounding artificial intelligence has continued to increase since the 2023 H2 survey, with a notable rise in 2026 H1. Participants raised a range of concerns, notably around stretched AI equity valuations, as well as disruption to the job market leading to high unemployment.
- Beyond the top five risks, there has been a sharp increase in the number of respondents citing UK political risks (16%, +12 percentage points since the 2025 H2 survey).
- The proportion of respondents citing inflation risk has continued its downward trend since its 2022 H2 peak.
Footnotes
- Sources: Bank of England Systemic Risk Surveys and Bank calculations.
- (a) Respondents were asked to list the five risks they thought would have the greatest impact on the UK financial system if they were to materialise. Answers were in a free-text format and were grouped into categories after the questionnaires had been submitted; only one category was selected for each answer. Chart figures are the percentages of respondents citing a given risk at least once, among respondents citing at least one key risk. The chart shows the top five categories; see the data appendix for additional categories.
- (b) Risks cited in previous surveys have been regrouped into the categories used to describe the latest data.
Footnotes
- Sources: Bank of England Systemic Risk Surveys and Bank calculations.
- (a) Respondents were asked to list the five risks they thought would have the greatest impact on the UK financial system if they were to materialise, in order of potential impact (ie greatest impact first). Answers were in a free-text format and were grouped into categories after the questionnaires had been submitted; only one category was selected for each answer. Chart figures are the percentages of respondents citing a given risk as their number one key risk, among respondents citing at least one key risk. The chart shows the top four ‘number one’ sources of risk that have been cited in the most recent survey; see the data appendix for more detail.
- (b) Risks cited in previous surveys have been regrouped into the categories used to describe the latest data.
Most challenging risks to manage as a firm
Respondents were asked to rank which of the five risks they identified would be the most challenging to manage, should they materialise.
The most cited risks are shown below (Chart 6):
1. Geopolitical risk (cited by 81% of respondents, +13 percentage points since the 2025 H2 survey).
2. Cyberattack (77%, +4 percentage point).
3. Risks associated with a UK economic downturn (23%, -4 percentage points).
4. Risks associated with an overseas/global economic downturn (19%, +6 percentage points).
5. Operational risk (18%, -3 percentage points).
6=. Risk of financial market disruption/dislocation (11%, -5 percentage points).
6=. Risks surrounding artificial intelligence (11%, +4 percentage points).
6=. UK political risk (11%, +7 percentage points).
Footnotes
- Sources: Bank of England Systemic Risk Surveys and Bank calculations.
- (a) After respondents had listed the five risks they believed would have the greatest impact on the UK financial system if they were to materialise, they were asked to rank which of these risks they would find most challenging to manage as a firm. The data is based on participants top three ranked risks. Answers were in a free-text format and were grouped into categories after the questionnaires had been submitted; only one category was selected for each answer. Chart figures are the percentages of respondents citing a given risk at least once, among respondents citing at least one key risk. The chart shows the top six categories only; see the data appendix for additional categories.
- (b) Risks cited in previous surveys have been regrouped into the categories used to describe the latest data.
Geopolitical risk and Cyberattack are still considered to be most challenging risks to manage.
- Geopolitical risk (81%) and cyberattack (77%) are still considered the most challenging to manage by respondents, with both risks increasing to their highest level recorded in the survey.
- Although risks associated with a UK economic downturn and operational risk remain in the top five most challenging risks to manage, they have continued a downward trend since the 2025 H1 survey (-12 percentage points and -8 percentage points respectively).
- The proportion of respondents citing UK political risk as the most challenging risk to manage has increased, by 7 percentage points.
Key risks most likely to materialise
Respondents were asked to rank which of the five risks they thought would be the most probable to materialise.footnote [4]
The most cited risks are shown below (Chart 7):
1. Geopolitical risk (84% of respondents, +13 percentage points since the 2025 H2 survey).
2. Cyberattack (56%, unchanged since the 2025 H2 survey).
3. Risks associated with a UK economic downturn (35%, -6 percentage points).
4. Operational risk (23%, +4 percentage points).
Footnotes
- Sources: Bank of England Systemic Risk Surveys and Bank calculations.
- (a) After listing the five risks they believed would have the greatest impact on the UK financial system if they were to materialise, respondents were then asked to rank which of these risks they perceived as most likely to materialise. The data is based on participants top three ranked risks. Answers were in a free-text format and were grouped into categories after the questionnaires had been submitted; only one category was selected for each answer. Chart figures are the percentages of respondents citing a given risk at least once, among respondents citing at least one key risk.
- (b) Risks cited in previous surveys have been regrouped into the categories used to describe the latest data.
- (c) The risks presented in this chart include only those cited as most likely to materialise by at least 5% of respondents. Please refer to Table A4 in the data appendix for details.
- Geopolitical risk continues to be the most likely risk to materialise according to respondents, rising sharply since the 2025 H2 survey to reach its highest level recorded in the survey.
- Cyberattack remains the second most likely risk to materialise.
- The number of participants citing risks associated with a UK economic downturn has continued to decrease since the 2025 H1 survey (-14 percentage points), however it still remains the third most cited risk.
- The number of participants citing risks associated with an overseas/global economic downturn has dropped down to fifth place with an 8 percentage point decrease since 2025 H2.
- The number of participants citing risks surrounding artificial intelligence and UK political risks has grown (+9 and +7 percentage points respectively).
Data appendix
Aggregate risks to the UK financial system (a) (b) (c)
2022 H2
2023 H1
2023 H2
2024 H1
2024 H2
2025 H1
2025 H2
2026 H1
Probability of a high-impact event in the UK financial system in the short term (d)
Very high
14
6
2
0
0
2
0
0
High
48
46
36
24
17
22
19
23
Medium
35
33
32
50
46
42
51
47
Low
3
14
27
23
35
31
29
26
Very low
0
1
4
3
2
4
2
4
Probability of a high-impact event in the UK financial system in the medium term (d)
Very high
17
11
7
8
0
5
3
2
High
55
56
50
38
43
31
42
42
Medium
26
28
34
39
43
53
47
46
Low
2
6
9
15
13
11
7
11
Very low
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
Change in the probability over the past six months of a high-impact event in the UK financial system in the short term (e)
Increased
83
51
23
35
26
36
39
44
Unchanged
15
35
59
52
57
56
59
51
Decreased
2
14
18
14
17
7
2
5
Change in the probability over the past six months of a high-impact event in the UK financial system in the medium term (e)
Increased
69
42
27
32
24
49
46
38
Unchanged
29
51
70
65
67
47
54
59
Decreased
2
7
4
3
9
4
0
4
Confidence in the stability of the UK financial system as a whole over the next three years (f)
Complete confidence
0
1
2
0
2
0
0
0
Very confident
42
24
29
29
38
35
37
39
Fairly confident
55
69
63
65
56
53
58
54
Not very confident
3
6
7
6
4
13
5
7
No confidence
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Change in confidence over the past six months (g)
Increased
0
7
7
5
16
9
5
4
Unchanged
71
50
80
80
73
64
83
82
Decreased
29
43
13
15
11
27
12
14
Footnotes
- Sources: Bank of England Systemic Risk Surveys and Bank calculations.
- (a) Entries are percentages of respondents and may not sum to 100% due to rounding.
- (b) The survey has been undertaken biannually since 2009, following a pilot survey conducted in July 2008. Between 2020 H1 and 2021 H1, the survey was paused due to Covid.
- (c) Figures are expressed as nearest whole integer, so may appear inconsistent with figures shown in the text of the survey.
- (d) Respondents were asked what the probability of a high-impact event in the UK financial system was in their view, for both the short and medium term. Since the 2009 H2 survey, short and medium term have been specifically identified as 0–12 months and 1–3 years respectively. These terms were not explicitly defined in earlier surveys.
- (e) Respondents were asked how the probability had changed over the past six months for the short and medium term. Since the 2009 H2 survey, short and medium term have been specifically identified as 0–12 months and 1–3 years respectively. These terms were not explicitly defined in earlier surveys.
- (f) Respondents were asked how much confidence they had in the stability of the UK financial system as a whole over the next three years.
- (g) Respondents were asked how their confidence had changed over the past six months. The question was asked from 2010 H1 onwards.
Sources of risk to the UK financial system (a) (b) (c) (d)
2022 H2
2023 H1
2023 H2
2024 H1
2024 H2
2025 H1
2025 H2
2026 H1
Geopolitical risk
72
79
66
85
93
87
85
95
Cyberattack
74
75
80
70
80
73
85
82
Risks associated with a UK economic downturn
20
32
52
44
45
62
56
47
Risk of financial market disruption/dislocation
17
13
23
14
22
33
47
47
Operational risk
20
21
20
12
22
33
36
35
Risks surrounding artificial intelligence
0
0
7
14
15
16
20
32
Risks associated with an overseas/global economic downturn
20
22
23
14
33
20
36
30
Climate risk
23
39
39
36
29
15
17
21
Risk of infrastructure disruption
0
1
7
12
15
9
8
16
UK political risk
34
28
16
21
7
5
3
16
Household/corporate credit risk
8
10
7
20
24
20
14
12
Sovereign risk
2
4
2
3
7
9
14
12
Risks around regulation/taxes
6
17
11
15
13
16
14
11
Funding risk
2
7
9
8
4
13
10
7
Other
23
19
14
11
22
5
8
5
Risk of tightening in credit conditions
17
8
5
3
2
0
0
4
Risks surrounding monetary and fiscal policy
5
7
9
6
2
7
3
4
Inflation risk
72
53
57
41
24
16
7
2
Risk of financial institution failure/distress
6
6
14
17
5
5
5
2
Risk of loss of confidence in the authorities
0
3
2
2
4
7
7
2
Risk of property price falls
3
10
13
11
7
2
3
2
Risks around public anger against, or distrust of, financial institutions
5
1
0
3
4
4
2
2
Pandemic risk
31
8
5
3
0
2
0
0
Risk of lack of confidence in ratings, valuations and disclosure
0
3
0
3
0
0
0
0
Risk surrounding cryptocurrencies
0
0
0
2
0
4
2
0
Risk surrounding the low interest rate environment (e)
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
Number one source of risk to the UK financial system (f)
Geopolitical risk
17
28
23
41
42
42
36
46
Cyberattack
17
10
27
21
31
18
20
26
Operational risk
0
1
0
5
5
11
5
9
Risks associated with an overseas/global economic downturn
3
4
0
2
5
4
5
5
Risks associated with a UK economic downturn
8
14
16
12
5
9
8
4
Household/corporate credit risk
2
3
0
5
2
0
0
2
Risk of financial market disruption/dislocation
3
0
5
2
2
4
0
2
Risks around regulation/taxes
3
1
0
2
2
2
2
2
Risks surrounding artificial intelligence
0
0
2
2
0
0
3
2
Sovereign risk
0
1
2
0
0
2
7
2
UK political risk
2
1
0
3
0
2
2
2
Climate risk
2
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
Funding risk
0
0
2
0
0
4
5
0
Inflation risk
38
25
14
5
4
0
2
0
Other
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
Pandemic risk
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Risk of financial institution failure/distress
0
0
2
2
2
2
2
0
Risk of infrastructure disruption
0
1
2
2
0
0
0
0
Risk of lack of confidence in ratings, valuations and disclosure
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Risk of loss of confidence in the authorities
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
Risk of property price falls
0
3
2
0
0
0
0
0
Risk of tightening in credit conditions
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
Risk surrounding cryptocurrencies
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Risk surrounding the low interest rate environment (e)
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Risks around public anger against, or distrust of, financial institutions
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
Risks surrounding monetary and fiscal policy
3
1
4
0
0
2
2
0
Footnotes
- Sources: Bank of England Systemic Risk Surveys and Bank calculations.
- (a) Respondents were asked which five risks they believed would have the greatest impact on the UK financial system if they were to materialise, in order of potential impact (ie greatest impact first). Answers were provided in a free-text format and were subsequently coded into the above categories; only one category was selected for each answer. Risks cited in previous surveys have been regrouped into the categories used to describe the latest data.
- (b) The survey has been undertaken biannually since 2009, following a pilot survey conducted in July 2008. Between 2020 H1 and 2021 H1, the survey was paused due to Covid.
- (c) Figures are expressed as nearest whole integer, so may appear inconsistent with figures shown in the text of the survey.
- (d) Percentages of respondents citing each risk at least once in their top five, among those citing at least one risk.
- (e) The definition of this risk includes risks associated with a snapback in low rates to more normal levels, as well as risks directly associated with low rates.
- (f) Percentages of respondents citing each risk as their number one risk (ie the risk with the greatest potential impact), among those citing at least one source of risk.
Risks most challenging to manage as a firm (a) (b) (c)
2022 H2
2023 H1
2023 H2
2024 H1
2024 H2
2025 H1
2025 H2
2026 H1
Geopolitical risk
48
49
46
70
71
67
68
81
Cyberattack
56
50
70
59
71
62
73
77
Risks associated with a UK economic downturn
13
24
29
18
16
35
27
23
Risks associated with an overseas/global economic downturn
6
11
18
10
22
11
14
19
Operational risk
11
11
11
8
16
25
20
18
Risk of financial market disruption/dislocation
11
3
5
3
11
11
15
11
Risks surrounding artificial intelligence
0
0
2
10
5
9
7
11
UK political risk
14
11
7
7
4
4
3
11
Risk of infrastructure disruption
0
1
7
10
9
4
7
9
Risks around regulation/taxes
5
11
4
7
7
13
10
7
Climate risk
13
15
20
16
15
5
8
5
Funding risk
2
6
9
2
2
7
3
5
Other
6
13
5
7
11
2
7
5
Household/corporate credit risk
5
7
2
16
7
4
8
4
Sovereign risk
0
3
2
2
4
4
8
4
Risk of financial institution failure/distress
5
0
9
8
4
5
5
2
Inflation risk
61
40
41
16
9
11
3
2
Risks around public anger against, or distrust of, financial institutions
3
0
0
3
2
2
2
2
Risk of loss of confidence in the authorities
0
3
0
2
2
0
3
2
Risks surrounding monetary and fiscal policy
3
3
4
3
0
4
0
2
Pandemic risk
9
4
0
0
0
2
0
0
Risk of lack of confidence in ratings, valuations and disclosure
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Risk of property price falls
0
6
4
8
2
2
0
0
Risk of tightening in credit conditions
11
3
4
2
2
0
0
0
Risk surrounding cryptocurrencies
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
Risk surrounding the low interest rate environment (d)
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Cited at least one key risk, but did not cite any risk as challenging to manage (%)
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Number of respondents citing at least one source of risk
65
72
56
66
55
55
59
57
Footnotes
- Sources: Bank of England Systemic Risk Surveys and Bank calculations.
- (a) After respondents had listed the five risks they believed would have the greatest impact on the UK financial system if they were to materialise, they were asked to rank which of these risks they would find most challenging to manage as a firm. The data is based on participants top three ranked risks. Answers were provided in a free-text format and were subsequently coded into the above categories; only one category was selected for each answer. Risks cited in previous surveys have been regrouped into the categories used to describe the latest data. Table entries are the percentages of respondents citing each risk at least once in this second question, among those citing at least one source of risk.
- (b) The survey has been undertaken biannually since 2009, following a pilot survey conducted in July 2008. Between 2020 H1 and 2021 H1, the survey was paused due to Covid.
- (c) Figures are expressed as nearest whole integer, so may appear inconsistent with figures shown in the text of the survey.
- (d) The definition of this risk includes risks associated with a snapback in low rates to more normal levels, as well as risks directly associated with low rates.
Risks most probable to materialise (a) (b) (c)
2024 H1
2024 H2
2025 H1
2025 H2
2026 H1
Geopolitical risk
67
75
80
71
84
Cyberattack
40
60
44
56
56
Risks associated with a UK economic downturn
37
29
49
41
35
Operational risk
10
13
18
19
23
Risks associated with an overseas/global economic downturn
10
22
9
25
18
Risk of financial market disruption/dislocation
8
15
16
20
14
Risks surrounding artificial intelligence
12
5
2
5
14
UK political risk
17
4
4
3
11
Risk of infrastructure disruption
7
4
5
5
9
Risk around regulation/taxes
10
5
11
8
9
Climate risk
15
15
4
5
9
Household/corporate credit risk
12
15
13
8
7
Sovereign risk
2
2
2
3
4
Risks surrounding monetary/fiscal policy
3
0
2
3
4
Inflation risk
20
15
13
3
2
Other
3
9
2
5
2
Risk of financial institution failure/distress
7
0
0
0
0
Funding risk
3
0
4
2
0
Risks around public anger against, or distrust of, financial institutions
0
0
2
0
0
Risk of lack of confidence in ratings, valuations and disclosure
2
0
0
0
0
Risk of loss of confidence in the authorities
0
2
4
5
0
Risk of property price falls
5
4
2
2
0
Risk of tightening in credit conditions
2
2
0
0
0
Risks surrounding low interest rate environment (d)
0
0
2
0
0
Pandemic risk
2
0
0
0
0
Risks surrounding cryptocurrencies
0
0
4
0
0
Cited at least one key risk, but did not cite any risk as most likely to materialise (%)
0
0
0
0
0
Number of respondents citing at least one source of risk
66
55
55
59
57
Footnotes
- Sources: Bank of England Systemic Risk Surveys and Bank calculations.
- (a) After listing the five risks they believed would have the greatest impact on the UK financial system if they were to materialise, respondents were then asked to rank which of these risks they perceived as most likely to materialise. The data is based on participants top three ranked risks. This element of the survey was introduced in 2021 H2. Answers were provided in a free-text format and were subsequently coded into the above categories; only one category was selected for each answer. Risks cited in previous surveys have been regrouped into the categories used to describe the latest data. Table entries are the percentages of respondents citing each risk at least once in this second question, among those citing at least one source of risk.
- (b) The survey has been undertaken biannually since 2009, following a pilot survey conducted in July 2008. Between 2020 H1 and 2021 H1, the survey was paused due to Covid.
- (c) Figures are expressed as nearest whole integer, so may appear inconsistent with figures shown in the text of the survey.
- (d) The definition of this risk includes risks associated with a snapback in low rates to more normal levels, as well as risks directly associated with low rates.
The Systemic Risk Survey has been undertaken biannually since 2009, following a pilot survey conducted in July 2008. It was published for the first time in November 2011. The survey results complement other sources of information used by the Bank to identify system-wide risks.
Since the 2009 H2 survey, short and medium term have been specifically identified as 0–12 months and 1–3 years respectively. These terms were not explicitly defined in earlier surveys.
These summary categories are adjusted over time in order to better capture current risks cited. Risks cited in previous surveys have been regrouped into the new categories to ensure comparability across survey rounds.
This question was introduced in the 2021 H2 survey.