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In an increasingly uncertain world, resilience is key to a nation’s ability to thrive. FM, a global leader in commercial property insurance and risk management, highlights the countries best equipped to handle physical risks like climate change and seismic activity, along with macro risks such as political unrest and per-capita healthcare investment.
As global challenges grow, this report offers valuable insight into which nations are most prepared for the future. Curious about which countries top the list for resilience? Click ahead to discover the leaders and what sets them apart.
The Resilience Index Report from FM, a commercial property insurance and risk management company, evaluates countries' abilities to respond to disruptive events.
While the primary goal of this analysis is to help business executives identify a country’s strengths and vulnerabilities in terms of both physical and macro risks, it also offers valuable insights for individuals.
As the report touches on factors such as war, terrorism, and natural disasters, it provides insights not only for managers looking to strengthen their company’s resilience but also for those seeking more stable places to live in an increasingly unpredictable world.
The index includes six physical factors and 12 macro factors, which combine equally to form a composite score for the evaluated countries and territories.
The physical factors included in the analysis are climate change exposure, climate risk exposure, climate risk quality, cybersecurity, fire risk quality, and seismic risk exposure.
Macro factors include political risk, average health expenditure per person, education, and inflation. The report analyzes these factors using data from authorities like the United Nations and World Bank.
Canada, China, India, and the United States are each divided into three regions to capture the distinct variations in exposure to natural hazards within these countries.
Resilience is scored from zero to 100, with higher scores reflecting a country or region's greater resilience.
Click through the next slides to view the top 20 most resilient countries and regions, according to the report.
The report ranks Canada's "Zone 3"—which includes Alberta, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario, and Saskatchewan—as the 20th most resilient region globally with a score of 86.1. The region scores high in resilience related to macro factors like water stress (freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available resources), control of corruption, and political risk, as well as physical factors like seismic risk exposure.
With an overall index of 87.2, the country ranks high in resilience, particularly in macro factors like inflation, health expenditure, and GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions. Physical factors, including climate risk and cybersecurity, boost the country's score, though its relatively low score in seismic risk exposure indicates lower resilience in that area.
Spain's overall index is 87.3, driven by strong resilience in areas like urbanization rate, inflation, GHG emissions, and fire risk. However, it is less resilient in areas such as health expenditure and control of corruption.
Zone 2 of the US, as defined in the report, includes Alaska, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Utah, and Washington. The region excels in areas like internet usage, urbanization rate, water stress, and cybersecurity but is less resilient in terms of seismic risk. It has an overall index of 87.8
With an overall index of 87.9, France shows strong resilience in factors like inflation, political risk, GHG emissions, and water stress. It also ranks well in climate risk exposure, cybersecurity, and seismic risk exposure.
The United Kingdom achieved an overall index of 89.5, with its strongest score in seismic risk, earning a perfect 100 in this category. It also scores high in resiliency regarding inflation, education, and climate change exposure.
According to the report, the country is less susceptible to climate change risk and exposure, its structures are largely built in compliance with fire-risk design guidelines, and its businesses are not significantly vulnerable to seismic risk. The country achieved an overall index of 89.6.
Australia has an overall index of 89.7, with a perfect score of 100 in education (based on the average of expected years of schooling and mean years of schooling) and 99.9 in water stress. The country also ranks high in resilience regarding cybersecurity and seismic risk exposure.
This zone includes Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, the Virgin Islands, and Virginia. It has an overall index of 90.4, with high scores in water stress, inflation, and cybersecurity.
The Emerald Isle earned an overall index of 92.2. Its favorable global position makes virtually all of its businesses immune to seismic risk, according to the report. It also scores highly in resilience factors like inflation, political risk, and GHG emissions.
Comprising all remaining states and solidifying the US' position as one of the most resilient countries in the world, US Zone 3 enters the top 10 with an index of 92.6. It earns the highest individual scores in categories such as cybersecurity, inflation, and water stress.
Although it ranked low in categories like health expenditure and productivity (GDP per capita based on purchasing power parity) compared to other regions, the country earned an overall resilience score of 93.
Renowned for its high-quality public services, particularly in education and healthcare, the country earned an overall score of 93.9, ranking it among the most resilient in the world.
Like Finland, Germany did not score high in health expenditure or productivity. However, its strong scores in GHG emissions, water stress, cybersecurity, and political risk helped it achieve an overall score of 94.7.
Sweden's overall index of 95.1 is boosted by exceptionally high scores in areas such as seismic risk exposure (with a score of 100), water stress, inflation, and education.
Kicking off the top five most resilient countries in FM's report, Singapore earned an overall index of 97.6. The Asian country scored highest in political risk, urbanization, GHG emissions, and inflation.
Switzerland earned an overall index of 97.9, scoring high in almost all categories, though it remains less resilient in health expenditure and seismic risk exposure.
The Nordic country ranks third with an overall index of 98.4, scoring high in climate risk, inflation, water stress, and control of corruption.
With an impressive overall index of 99.5, the European country only lags in categories such as health expenditure, logistics (ease of trade and quality of infrastructure), and climate risk quality (enforcement of wind-resistant building codes, considering the country’s wind and flood risks).
Denmark has been assessed as having one of the most resilient business environments in the world. Ranking No. 1 for the second consecutive year, the country’s resilience is driven by a strong education system, exceptional control of corruption and inflation, and its economic activities' immunity to seismic risk, earning it an overall index of 100.
Sources: (FM Resilience Index) (U.S. News)
See also: The world's happiest countries in 2025
Disaster response: the most resilient countries in the world
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In an increasingly uncertain world, resilience is key to a nation’s ability to thrive. FM, a global leader in commercial property insurance and risk management, highlights the countries best equipped to handle physical risks like climate change and seismic activity, along with macro risks such as political unrest and per-capita healthcare investment.
As global challenges grow, this report offers valuable insight into which nations are most prepared for the future. Curious about which countries top the list for resilience? Click ahead to discover the leaders and what sets them apart.