These are the 9 biggest risks facing the world

Governments worldwide are trying to solve the puzzle of slowing growth, financial markets are struggling to find stability, and several major geopolitical crises are causing problems across the world.

But exactly what are the biggest challenges facing humanity right now?

To find out, we took a look at the Economist Intelligence Unit's Global Risk index. The EIU takes a look at the biggest problems facing the world, and gives each one a score out of 25, with 25 being the highest possible score.

The index is updated monthly to reflect changes in the global political and economic environment, and the March update, released on Wednesday night, includes some new and surprising risks.

Check out what the EIU thinks are the biggest risks facing the world below.