The IADS released the premiere edition of its Global Retail Risk Index in September 2025 with the aim of providing a strategic tool enabling regional comparisons to guide retail expansion and investment. With tariff and geopolitical shocks potentially creating new economic geographies, accurate and comparable data is the basis of cutting through the noise of new developments with unknown impacts.

Recent developments have exposed retailers to sudden tariffs, currency swings, regulatory shifts and store-level security threats. Trade wars and conflicts have raised freight costs, delayed goods and forced companies to rethink sourcing strategies. Despite rising scepticism around economic judgments and forecasts in a world encountering significant structural change, reliable data forms the foundation of informed decision-making. Cross-disciplinary knowledge combined with ever-improving data and scenario tools enables decision makers across sectors to contextualise relevant information for better decision-making. To this end, the Global Retail Risk Index uses open source data from the World Bank for comparability and accuracy in indicator definitions.

This IADS Exclusive focuses on analysing each of the eight regions in the Global Retail Risk Index and contextualising key data, intra-region differences within aggregates and other developments not captured in hard figures. The complete Global Retail Risk Index Report can be found here.

IADS Exclusive: Global Retail Risk Index 2025: A strategic guide for expansion and resilience

IADS provides its members with a weekly in-depth analysis on retail-oriented topics.

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