Forced Labour and Human trafficking: Estimating the Profits

The paper’s main estimate is that global profits made from forced labourers exploited by private enterprises or agents reach US$ 44.3 billion every year, of which US$ 31.6 billion from trafficked victims. The largest profits - more than US$ 15 billion - are made from people trafficked and forced to work in industrialized countries. These figures show that profits are possibly much larger than has so far been recognized in the estimates of other national or international organizations. They also support the view that trafficking thrives because it is lucrative and that policy measures to combat this scourge must include the confiscation of the financial assets of those involved in trafficking across or within borders.