Hidden in plain sight, behind those staggering statistics that reveal nearly 50 million people were living in modern slavery in 2021, lies a global crisis of human trafficking that touches every country and industry.
Key Takeaways
- The International Labour Organization estimates that 27.6 million people were subjected to forced labor globally on any given day in 2021, many as a result of human trafficking
- UNODC's Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2022 indicates that 49,096 potential trafficking victims were detected worldwide between 2018 and 2021
- Walk Free's Global Slavery Index 2023 reports that 50 million people were living in modern slavery in 2021, including trafficking victims
- 90% of sex trafficking victims know their trafficker per Polaris
- In the US, 92% of sex trafficking survivors are female per Polaris 2023 analysis
- Average age of entry into sex trafficking in US is 12-14 years per FBI data
- 35% of labor trafficking victims are in agriculture globally per ILO 2021
- US: 1,000 labor trafficking cases reported to Hotline in 2022
- Construction sector: 20% of global forced labor per ILO
- 30% of child trafficking victims are boys trafficked for labor per UNICEF 2021
- US: 25% of trafficking victims are children per NHTRC 2022
- Africa: 30% of children out of school vulnerable to trafficking per UNESCO
- East Asia: North Korea 100,000 forced child laborers per UN
- Western Europe: 23,000 trafficking victims detected 2018-2020 per Eurostat
- Sub-Saharan Africa: 7 million in modern slavery per Global Slavery Index 2023
Trafficking is a global crisis enslaving millions for labor and sexual exploitation.
Child Trafficking
- 30% of child trafficking victims are boys trafficked for labor per UNICEF 2021
- US: 25% of trafficking victims are children per NHTRC 2022
- Africa: 30% of children out of school vulnerable to trafficking per UNESCO
- India: 1.2 million children trafficked annually per NCRB
- 28% of global detected victims are children per UNODC 2022
- Child sex tourism affects 2 million children yearly per ECPAT
- In West Africa, 200,000 children trafficked for labor per ILO
- US foster care: 60% of child sex trafficking victims per HHS
- 50% of trafficked children suffer long-term health issues per WHO
- Begging rings: 10 million children forced globally per ILO
- Philippines: 60,000 children in sex trafficking per UNICEF
- 70% of child trafficking internal to countries per UNODC
- Haiti: 300,000 restavek children vulnerable to trafficking per USDOS
- Child soldiers: 250,000 globally many trafficked per UN
- 40% child trafficking for domestic servitude per ILO
- Europe: 15,000 unaccompanied minors disappear annually, many trafficked per EU
- Average child trafficking victim age 13 for sex exploitation per NCMEC
- China: 20,000 children trafficked yearly per police data
- 80% of child trafficking victims experience violence per UNICEF
- Online grooming leads to 25% child trafficking cases per Interpol
- Brazil: 500,000 children in forced labor per ILO
- 65% of child victims girls for sexual exploitation per UNODC
- Refugee children: 30% risk of trafficking per UNHCR
- US: 2,300 child trafficking cases prosecuted 2018-2022 per DOJ
- Southeast Asia: 1.5 million children trafficked per ILO
- 50% of child laborers aged 5-11 trafficked per ILO
- Sub-Saharan Africa: 23% children trafficked per ILO
- Asia hosts 78% of child trafficking victims per UNICEF
- North America: 15% of global child trafficking detections per UNODC
- Europe: 1.2 million irregular migrant children at risk per FRA
- Middle East: 25% child trafficking for begging per ILO
- Latin America: 550,000 children trafficked for labor per OIT
- Africa: 77,000 children trafficked to Europe yearly per IOM
- US Southwest border: 20% unaccompanied minors trafficked per DHS
- India-Nepal border: 7,000 girls trafficked yearly per UNODC
- Southeast Asia: 30% increase in child trafficking post-COVID per UNODC
- Eastern Europe: 40% child trafficking victims boys for labor per UNICEF
- Sub-Saharan Africa: 50% child trafficking internal migration per ILO
- Middle East: Gulf states host 1.5 million trafficked child domestics per HRW
- South Asia: 12 million child laborers 25% trafficked per ILO
- Central Asia: 100,000 children trafficked for cotton picking per Anti-Slavery
- West Africa: Cocoa farms 1.56 million child laborers trafficked per USDOL
Child Trafficking Interpretation
These statistics are not just cold numbers; they are a damning indictment of a global society that, while often envisioning trafficking as a distant shadow, is actually tolerating a vast, industrialized system that consumes childhood itself, exploiting boys for labor just as readily as girls for sex, and turning our schools, borders, and even foster care systems into its supply chains.
Global Prevalence
- The International Labour Organization estimates that 27.6 million people were subjected to forced labor globally on any given day in 2021, many as a result of human trafficking
- UNODC's Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2022 indicates that 49,096 potential trafficking victims were detected worldwide between 2018 and 2021
- Walk Free's Global Slavery Index 2023 reports that 50 million people were living in modern slavery in 2021, including trafficking victims
- ILO estimates 3.3 million children under 18 were in forced labor due to trafficking in 2021
- Globally, 54% of detected trafficking victims are trafficked for sexual exploitation according to UNODC 2022
- 38% of detected victims are trafficked for forced labor per UNODC Global Report 2020
- An estimated 25 million people are trafficked for forced marriage globally per ILO 2022
- UNODC reports a 11% increase in detected child victims from 2016 to 2019
- 23% of global trafficking flows are international according to UNODC 2022
- Polaris Project data shows over 10,000 trafficking cases reported to the US National Human Trafficking Hotline since 2007
- Globally, women and girls represent 71% of detected trafficking victims per UNODC 2022
- ILO 2021 data: 6.3 million people in commercial sexual exploitation from trafficking
- 17.3 million adults and 3.8 million children forced into labor services per ILO
- UNODC notes 20% of victims are men, mostly for labor trafficking
- Global Slavery Index 2023: 10 million children in modern slavery including trafficking
- 12 million people trafficked into forced labor in private sector per ILO 2022
- UNODC 2022: Detection of labor trafficking victims increased by 37% in some regions
- Estimated 40% underreporting of trafficking cases globally per experts
- 75% of trafficking victims experience physical or sexual violence per UNODC
- ILO: $150 billion annual illegal profits from forced labor and trafficking
- 79% of forced labor profits from private sector trafficking per ILO
- UNODC: Trafficking for organ removal affects 1-10% of cases
- Global average conviction rate for trafficking: 47% per UNODC 2022
- 30% increase in online recruitment for trafficking post-COVID per UNODC
- In 2021, 28 million in forced labor, half women/girls per ILO
- UNODC detects 15% more victims annually since 2016
- 50% of child victims are girls per UNODC global data
- Estimated 5 million sexually exploited children globally per UNICEF/ILO
- Trafficking accounts for 25% of all transnational crime profits per UNODC
Global Prevalence Interpretation
While the staggering scale of modern slavery—tens of millions trapped in an economy of exploitation generating obscene profits—is a damning testament to our global failure, the pitiful trickle of convictions reveals a justice system still woefully outpaced by the traffickers' cruel ambition.
Labor Trafficking
- 35% of labor trafficking victims are in agriculture globally per ILO 2021
- US: 1,000 labor trafficking cases reported to Hotline in 2022
- Construction sector: 20% of global forced labor per ILO
- In Qatar, 1.6 million migrant workers vulnerable to labor trafficking per Walk Free
- Domestic work: 2.2 million in forced labor per ILO
- Fishing industry: 150,000 forced laborers globally per ILO
- US agriculture: 55% of labor trafficking cases per Polaris
- India: 8 million in bonded labor from trafficking per ILO
- Manufacturing: 15% of forced labor victims per ILO global estimate
- Debt bondage traps 70% of labor trafficking victims per Anti-Slavery Int'l
- In Europe, 50% labor trafficking from Asia per Eurostat
- UAE: 150,000 domestic workers in forced labor conditions per HRW
- US restaurant industry: 25% labor trafficking hotspots per DOL
- 80% of labor trafficking victims are male per UNODC
- Brick kilns in Pakistan: 2 million bonded laborers per ILO
- 40 hours average weekly overtime without pay in labor trafficking per ILO surveys
- Thailand fishing: 59% of boats use trafficked labor per Greenpeace
- US: $245 million in goods produced by trafficked labor annually per Verité
- 60% labor trafficking involves false job promises per IOM
- Mining sector: 1 million child laborers many trafficked per ILO
- 90% of labor trafficking in supply chains undetected per ILO
- Saudi Arabia: 500,000 migrant workers in kafala system vulnerable per HRW
- Garment factories Bangladesh: 400,000 at risk per SOMO
- Average labor trafficking debt: $3,000 per victim per IOM data
- 25% of global labor trafficking in Latin America agriculture per OIT
Labor Trafficking Interpretation
The grim accounting of modern slavery reveals a global ledger where human lives are tallied as cheap, disposable inputs, with the world’s food, buildings, and comforts built on a foundation of forced and bonded labor hiding in plain sight.
Regional Statistics
- East Asia: North Korea 100,000 forced child laborers per UN
- Western Europe: 23,000 trafficking victims detected 2018-2020 per Eurostat
- Sub-Saharan Africa: 7 million in modern slavery per Global Slavery Index 2023
- South Asia: 18 million in forced labor per ILO
- Middle East/North Africa: 2.9 million in modern slavery per GSI
- North America: 1.1 million in modern slavery per GSI 2023
- Latin America/Caribbean: 3 million trafficked laborers per ILO
- Central Asia/Caucasus: 1.4 million vulnerable per UNODC
- East Asia/Pacific: 13 million in modern slavery per GSI
- Southeast Europe: 120,000 sex trafficking victims per ICMPD
- US: Tier 1 in TIP Report but 17,000 cases 2022 per USDOS
- India: Tier 2, 6,600 cases registered 2021 per NCRB
- Nigeria: Tier 2 Watch List, 500 convictions 2022 per USDOS
- Thailand: 300 sex trafficking arrests yearly per police
- Mexico: 1,100 investigations 2022 per USDOS
- Russia: 1,500 victims identified yearly per official data
- China: Tier 3, forced labor in Xinjiang 1 million Uyghurs per USDOS
- Brazil: 1,000 child labor rescues 2022 per MPT
- South Africa: 200 trafficking prosecutions 2022 per SAPS
- Turkey: Tier 2, 1,200 Syrian refugees trafficked per HRW
- Ukraine: 250 child trafficking cases amid war per IOM 2023
- Bangladesh: 400,000 Rohingya vulnerable per UNHCR
- Gulf States: 2.4 million migrant workers exploited per ILO
- Central America: 30% migrants trafficked en route per IOM
- West Africa: Nigeria-Ghana corridor 10,000 victims yearly per ECOWAS
- Balkans: 11,000 women trafficked to EU per UNODC
- East Africa: 4,000 girls trafficked to Gulf per KRCS
Regional Statistics Interpretation
From North Korea's state-enforced child labor to the Gulf's exploited migrant workers, these numbers sketch a grotesque map where modern slavery isn't a relic but a thriving, global enterprise hiding in plain sight.
Sex Trafficking
- 90% of sex trafficking victims know their trafficker per Polaris
- In the US, 92% of sex trafficking survivors are female per Polaris 2023 analysis
- Average age of entry into sex trafficking in US is 12-14 years per FBI data
- US National Human Trafficking Hotline received 10,359 sex trafficking signals in 2021
- 66% of sex trafficking cases involve US citizens per DOJ 2022
- Online platforms used in 63% of sex trafficking cases per Thorn 2022
- Sex trafficking generates $99 billion annually in Asia-Pacific per ILO
- In Europe, 95% of detected sex trafficking victims are women/girls per Eurostat
- 80% of sex-trafficked persons in India are under 25 per NHRC
- Thailand sex trafficking: 300,000 victims annually per UNODC
- In Nigeria, 60% of sex trafficking victims go to Italy per IOM
- US: 1 in 6 runaways become sex trafficking victims per NCMEC
- 75% of sex trafficking in hotels/motels per Polaris 2020
- Pimps in US sex trafficking earn $670,000/year per Urban Institute
- 40% of sex trafficking victims have substance abuse issues per HHS
- Escort sites account for 80% of online sex trafficking ads per Thorn
- In sex trafficking, 89% report psychological coercion per Polaris
- Mexico-US border: 20,000 sex trafficked women yearly per Coyote Coalition
- 70% of sex trafficking victims re-victimized within 2 years per NIJ study
- Cambodia: 15,000 women/girls in sex trafficking per ECPAT
- 55% of sex trafficking prosecutions in US involve minors per DOJ
- Average sex trafficking victim sees 5-10 buyers daily per survivor reports
- Philippines: 100,000 sex trafficking victims per UNODC
- 85% of sex trafficking in US uses social media for recruitment per FBI
- Sex trafficking hotspots: 50% in urban areas per UNODC
- 60% of international sex trafficking from Eastern Europe per Eurostat
- In sex trafficking, debt bondage used in 65% cases per ILO
- US sex trafficking: 300,000 youth at risk per HHS
- 45% of sex trafficking victims pregnant during exploitation per medical studies
- ILO: 4.8 million adults trafficked for forced sexual exploitation
Sex Trafficking Interpretation
The grim reality is that sex trafficking is not a distant, anonymous crime but a horrifyingly intimate betrayal, preying predominantly on young and vulnerable girls—often lured by someone they know, exploited through psychological coercion on platforms we all use, and trapped in a cycle of abuse that is as lucrative for the traffickers as it is devastating for the millions of victims worldwide.
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