ILO: Global Profits From Forced Labor Have Grown by $64 Billion in the Past Decade
Forced labor has become a colossal driver of illegal profits, contributing $236 billion to the global economy each year. And that staggering figure is only continuing to grow, according to a recent study from the International Labor Organization (ILO).
The total sum of ill-begotten profits resulting from forced labor has ballooned by $64 billion, or 37 percent, internationally since 2014—“a dramatic increase that has been fueled by both a growth in the number of people forced into labor, as well as higher profits generated from the exploitation of victims,” the group wrote this week.
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Traffickers and other criminals are making close to $10,000 on each victim of forced labor, ILO estimated, up from $8,269 (adjusted for inflation) 10 years ago. Annual illegal profits are highest in Europe and Central Asia, totaling about $84 billion, followed by Asia and the Pacific, which account for $62 billion in forced labor gains. The Americas sees $52 billion in profits from forced labor, while the continent of Africa sees $20 billion and the Arab States see $18 billion.
According to ILO, forced commercial sexual exploitation accounts for the majority (73 percent) of illegal profits, though only 27 percent of victims are subject to this type of trafficking. Following sexual slavery, the sector that sees the highest yearly profits is industry, which creates $35 billion in illicit earnings for bad actors and includes activities like mining, manufacturing and construction. Services like wholesale and trade, transport and storage, along with food services, entertainment and the arts, generate $20.8 billion in profits. Agricultural work accounts for $5 billion.
The “systematic and deliberate” withholding of wages is the most frequently used (36 percent) method of coercion used on workers, ILO said. Employers may convince them to remain at their posts out of fear that they’ll miss out on accrued earnings, and follow up this manipulation with the threat of termination, preying on workers’ economic vulnerabilities.
“Forced labor perpetuates cycles of poverty and exploitation and strikes at the heart of human dignity,” ILO director general Gilbert F. Houngbo said. “People in forced labor are subject to multiple forms of coercion, the deliberate and systematic withholding of wages being amongst the most common. We now know that the situation has only got worse.”
According to the United Nations agency, which is tasked with setting international labor standards, 27.6 million people across the globe were made to engage in forced labor during 2021 alone, translating to 3.5 people for every 1,000 on earth. During the five-year period between 2016 and 2021, the number of victims skyrocketed by 2.7 million.
There’s an urgent need for investment in enforcement measures to address illegal profits and hold criminals to account, ILO wrote. The group recommended bolstering existing legal frameworks, furthering training for enforcement officials who are inspecting high-risk sectors, and creating a better system for coordination between labor groups and law enforcement.
“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,” Houngbo said.
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