Risk management benchmarks – the latest data and analysis
Risk management
Risk Management Benchmarks 2025 report – mind the techno-political gap
Responses show central banks’ shifting priorities as volatility increases
2025 is looking to be the year of volatility. Central Banking’s Risk Management Benchmarks 2025 show geopolitics was the fastest-rising concern of the past year, and 82.5% of respondents have reviewed their risk management over the same period. As well as political concerns, cyber attacks remain front of mind for risk managers. Central banks need to mind the gap between technological and geopolitical challenges and their own capabilities.
Charts
Staffing struggles
Risk management departments in many jurisdictions are struggling to recruit enough staff. Many also face wider resource constraints.
The data shows staffing pressures are most acute at central banks in lower-middle income countries, where 75% faced hiring issues in the past year. Even so, half of central banks in high income central banks also faced hiring challenges. Across the whole sample, 62.5% of central banks reported issues.
For the full breakdown, use the benchmarking service’s interactive charts to explore the data.
Risk Management Benchmarks 2025 – model banks analysis
Drilling into the data reveals patterns in risk prioritisation and department structure
Risk management data
View the full breakdown of responses to the Risk management Benchmarks.
Most centralised risk teams prioritise cyber security
Decentralised teams primarily cover credit and counterparty, op and market risks
Risk policies widely reviewed by committee in larger teams
Central banks with larger teams favour risk committees over CROs
Middle income central banks have highest number of risk staff
But ratios of risk management employees to total headcount vary widely
How central banks manage their own cyber defences
Resilience against system breaches, ransomware and phishing attacks is in focus, alongside managing third-party risks and the threat of state actors to payment systems
Risk Management Benchmarks 2025 – model banks analysis
Drilling into the data reveals patterns in risk prioritisation and department structure
Risk Management Benchmarks 2025 – executive summary
The benchmarks reveal an ongoing focus on cyber risk, but climate and AI risks are rising fast
Risk Management Benchmarks 2025 report – mind the techno-political gap
Responses show central banks’ shifting priorities as volatility increases
Privacy and security seen as greatest AI risks
Larger risk teams more likely to provide training to staff on risk types
Most central banks reviewed risk management in past year
Other aspects evaluated varied by risk team structure and departmental staff strength
Cyber and geopolitical risks are managers’ top risks
Geopolitical risks seen rising fastest, but cyber is the biggest concern currently
Risk Management Benchmarks 2025 Charts
Take a deep dive into the Risk Management Benchmarks charts, which have just been released for 2025.
Central banks keep ISO 31000 and COSO-ERM as main approaches
Principles tend to vary slightly by central banks’ risk management philosophies