Vox's Future Perfect staff, along with other experts, released their predictions for major global events in 2026, assigning probabilities to each forecast to reflect their confidence levels. The predictions, the seventh annual effort by the group, leaned towards a pessimistic outlook, addressing issues ranging from the stability of U.S. electoral democracy to the potential for a global recession.

The forecasts included concerns about the possibility of military conflict over Taiwan, reflecting ongoing tensions in the region. The team also considered the likelihood of further restrictions on lab-grown meat in the United States, a topic of increasing debate within the food industry and among consumers. Environmental anxieties were reflected in a prediction regarding the potential for a Category 5 hurricane making landfall in the U.S., highlighting the growing threat of extreme weather events linked to climate change.

The Future Perfect project aims to promote "epistemic honesty" by quantifying the confidence level in each prediction. This approach seeks to move beyond simple guesswork, providing readers with a clearer understanding of the uncertainties involved in forecasting complex global events. The practice of assigning probabilities to predictions is common in fields like intelligence analysis and economics, where experts attempt to quantify uncertainty.

The predictions come at a time of significant global uncertainty, with ongoing geopolitical tensions, economic instability, and the accelerating effects of climate change. The staff considered a range of factors, including political trends, economic indicators, and scientific data, to inform their forecasts. The inclusion of cultural predictions, such as the possibility of a rock album from Beyoncé, demonstrates the breadth of topics considered.

The Vox team acknowledged the inherent difficulty in predicting future events, emphasizing that their forecasts are not definitive but rather represent their best assessment of the available information. The accuracy of previous years' predictions has varied, serving as a reminder of the challenges involved in anticipating complex global developments. The team plans to revisit their 2026 predictions at the end of the year to assess their accuracy and refine their forecasting methods.