The ILO estimates there were 27.6 million people engaged in forced labour on any given day in 2021, equivalent to 3.5 people for every 1,000 in the world. Between 2016 and 2021, the total number of people in forced labour increased by 2.7 million. Credit: Shutterstock.

The ILO explained the jump in profits from forced labour is fuelled by both an increase in the number of people forced into labour and higher profits from the exploitation of victims.

ILO’s report, titled Profits and Poverty: The economics of forced labour, estimates that traffickers and criminals are generating close to $10,000 in profit per victim, up from $8,269 in 2014, adjusted for inflation.

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Europe and Central Asia have the highest rate of annual illegal profit from forced labour, totalling $84bn, followed by Asia and the Pacific, with $62bn total profits.

The ILO estimates there was 27.6 million people engaged in forced labour on any given day in 2021, equivalent to 3.5 people for every 1,000 people in the world. Between 2016 and 2021, the total number of people in forced labour increased by 2.7 million.

The report calls for urgent investment in enforcement measures to stop the flow of illegal profit and to hold perpetrators accountable. The report also seeks strengthened legal frameworks, training for enforcement officials so that inspection can be extended into high-risk sectors and better coordination between labour and criminal enforcement.

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After forced commercial sexual exploitation, the industry sector is described as having the highest rates of illegal profit from forced labour with a total of $35bn annual profits. This is followed by the services sector, which sees a total of $20.8bn in annual profit and agriculture, which sees a total of $5bn profit from forced labour.

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ILO’s director general Gilbert F. Houngbo commented: “Forced labour perpetuates cycles of poverty and exploitation and strikes at the heart of human dignity. We now know that the situation has only got worse. The international community must urgently come together to take action to end this injustice.

“People in forced labour are subject to multiple forms of coercion, the deliberate and systematic withholding of wages being amongst the most common. Forced labour perpetuates cycles of poverty and exploitation and strikes at the heart of human dignity. We now know that the situation has only got worse. The international community must urgently come together to take action to end this injustice, safeguard workers’ rights, and uphold the principles of fairness and equality for all.”

In November 2023 Canada’s watchdog announced a probe into the Canadian arm of Inditex-owned retailer Zara over alleged forced labour links.

A month later outdoor brand Regatta “refuted the implication it had used forced prison labour” following claims a UK customer found a Chinese prisoner ID card inside the sleeve of a new coat.