Forced labor in the private economy generates US$236 billion in illegal profits per year, according to a new study from the International Labour Organization (ILO). The total amount of illegal profits from forced labor has risen by 37 percent since 2014, fueled by a growth in the number of people forced into labor as well as higher profits generated from the exploitation of victims, says the report. The study, titled “Profits and Poverty: The Economics of Forced Labour ,” estimates that traffickers and criminals are generating nearly US$10,000 per victim, up from US$8,269 (adjusted for inflation) a decade ago.
There were 27.6 million people engaged in forced labor on any given day in 2021. Between 2016 and 2021 the number of people in forced labor increased by 2.7 million.
Total annual illegal profits from forced labor are highest in Europe and Central Asia (US$84 billion), followed by Asia and the Pacific (US$62 billion), the Americas (US$52 billion), Africa (US$20 billion), and the Arab States (US$18 billion). When expressed per victim, annual illegal profits from forced labor are highest in Europe and Central Asia, followed by the Arab States, the Americas, Africa and Asia and the Pacific.
The sector with the highest annual illegal profit from forced labor is sexual exploitation, which accounts for 73 percent of the total illegal profits, followed by the industry, services, agriculture and domestic work. These illegal profits are the wages that would rightfully belong to workers but instead remain in the hands of their exploiters as a result of their coercive practices, reminds the report.
