Millions of people around the world are forced to work. A current study shows: This forced labor brings the exploiters billions. The illegal profits from forced prostitution are particularly high.
According to a report by the International Labor Organization (ILO), illegal profits from forced labor have risen sharply in recent years. It estimates the exploiters’ profits at 236 billion US dollars (around 217 billion euros) per year – an increase of 37 percent compared to 2014. The estimate is based on figures from 2021. Two thirds of the profits came from forced prostitution .
Profit refers to the difference between what people were paid and what they would have been entitled to under correct working conditions. The increase is due to both the increasing number of those affected and the fact that the profit per person has increased. On average, this amounts to just under $10,000 annually. In 2014 the value was around $8,300 per person.
Profits are particularly high in the Europe and Central Asia region, which includes a good 50 countries from Iceland to Turkey to Russia.
27.6 million people in forced labor
The ILO defines forced labor as: “Any type of work or service which is required of a person under penalty of punishment and for which that person has not volunteered.”
On any given day in 2021, 27.6 million people worldwide would have been in forced labor, for example in mines, agriculture or domestic work, statistically 3.5 people per 1,000 people on earth. 6.3 million of them were forced into prostitution. In 2015, the ILO counted 24.9 million people in forced labor.
More than half of those affected live in the Asia and Pacific region (15.1 million). The Europe/Central Asia region comes in second place with 4.1 million.
Combating forced labor is necessary on several levels
“Forced labor perpetuates the cycle of poverty and exploitation and touches the core of human dignity,” said ILO Director General Gilbert Houngbo. The ILO calls for better monitoring of economic sectors vulnerable to exploitation and urges that exploiters be consistently held accountable. At the same time, the study authors emphasize that criminal prosecution alone is not enough to successfully combat forced labor. Rather, a broad-based approach is needed here: “Efforts in the areas of social security, education, professional qualifications and migration management are crucial here.”
The ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations in which governments, employers and employees are represented.