Concern about cyberattacks disrupting supply chains has reached its highest level on record among larger UK businesses, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

In late October 2026, 21 per cent of businesses with 10 or more employees said they were concerned about cyberattacks affecting their supply chains over the next 12 months. That is up five percentage points from September 2026 and nine points from September 2025, and it is the highest share since the question was first introduced in September 2024.

Concern about artificial intelligence rose sharply too. Around one in nine larger firms, 12 per cent, said they were worried about AI disrupting their supply chains, up from 5 per cent in September. That is also the highest figure recorded since the question began.

What the survey found

The figures come from wave 167 of the Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS), which ran from 19 October to 1 November 2026. The ONS published the results on 5 November. The survey is voluntary and drew 9,628 responses from 38,542 sampled businesses, a response rate of 25 per cent.

International conflict remained the most frequently cited supply chain concern, named by 31 per cent of larger businesses. That figure was broadly stable with September, but it is up 20 percentage points from September 2025. Shipping disruption worried 21 per cent, the same share as cyberattacks.

More than a third of larger firms, 36 per cent, said they were not concerned about any of the listed factors affecting their supply chains over the next year. That share has fallen steadily from 57 per cent when the question was introduced in September 2024, suggesting that worry about disruption is now far more widespread than it was two years ago.

Costs and energy worries

The survey also found rising concern about the cost of doing business. Of larger firms that reported on supply chain concerns, 64 per cent expected the cost of sourcing materials to be affected, up nine percentage points from September. A further 60 per cent expected transport costs to be affected, also up nine points on September and 27 points on September 2025.

Almost seven in ten businesses, 69 per cent, expressed some degree of concern about energy prices in late October, up six percentage points from August. Among firms with 10 or more employees the share was higher, at 77 per cent. Seven in ten businesses were concerned about fuel prices, up eight points from August, with the figure at 76 per cent for larger firms.

What the figures do and do not show

The ONS is careful about how the results should be read. The figures measure what businesses expect and fear, not how many cyberattacks or AI failures have actually happened. The survey asks about concern over the coming year, and the ONS describes the results as official statistics in development, advising caution when using the data.

Even so, the direction of travel is clear. Cyberattack concern has climbed from 12 per cent in September 2025 to 16 per cent in September 2026 and now 21 per cent. AI concern has more than doubled in a single month, from 5 per cent to 12 per cent. For firms that rely on digital systems, suppliers and data, technology risk is now sitting alongside conflict, shipping and energy costs as a mainstream boardroom worry.

Trading remained steady overall. In late October, 95 per cent of businesses said they were trading, with 86 per cent fully trading and 9 per cent partially trading. Three per cent had temporarily paused trading and 2 per cent had permanently ceased trading.

The next update from the survey is due on 19 November, when it will become clear whether the jump in cyber and AI concern was a one-off or the start of a longer trend.