The business of human trafficking

  • Human trafficking is the 2nd largest criminal trade in the world after arms.
  • Human trafficking is the fastest-growing illicit trade in the world.
  • Human trafficking generates over $150 billion in profits every year.
  • 40.3 million people are living as slaves worldwide.
  • Globally, the average cost of a “slave” – a trafficked human being – is $90.

Children are the prime victims

  • The prime victims of human trafficking are less than 18 years old.
  • 1 in 4 victims of human trafficking are children.
  • The younger the child is, the more profit a trafficker makes.
  • Approximately 130 people are trafficked worldwide every hour. Most of these are children.
  • Over one million children are trafficked for the sex trade every year.
  • Approximately 30 million children have been trafficked over the last 30 years.
  • Some children forced into human trafficking are as young as 4 years old. Some are toddlers.
  • 4 million people, especially children, are living in forced marriages. More than half of these children are under the age of 18.
  • 152 million children were victims of child labor in 2016, which amounts to nearly one in every 10 children worldwide.
  • Sex trafficking earns 66% of the global profits of human trafficking.
  • The average age of a sex trafficked child is 13-14 years old.
  • A pimp can make up to $150,000-$200,000 per child a year.
  • 1 in 3 children who run away from home are approached by a trafficker within 48 hours of their running away.
  • 76% of transactions for human trafficking with young girls, start on the internet.
  • Children as young as 10 have been driven to attempt suicide or have suffered serious mental health problems after being trafficked as sex slaves or forced laborers in situations “akin to torture.”
  • Youth experiencing sexual trafficking, lead to severe mental health concerns including suicide ideation.

Human trafficking in the U.S.

  • The U.S. is a source, transit, and destination country for sex and labor trafficking of adults and children.
  • About 1 in 7 children reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) become victims of sex trafficking.
  • Up to 90% of children who are sex trafficking victims have been involved in child welfare services (including foster care) at some point.
  • Of the defendants charged with “sexual exploitation and other abuse of children” in U.S. district court in FY 2022, 94% were male and 71% were white.
  • Reports of possible child sex trafficking to NCMEC’s CyberTipline rose 55% in 2024 vs. 2023.
  • In National Human Trafficking Hotline data from the pandemic period (2020–2022), minors were 37% of sex trafficking victims (vs. 9% of labor-trafficking victims).
  • Federal criminal justice data show most trafficking prosecutions involve sex trafficking, and data on precise national child prevalence remain incomplete.
  • Nevada has the highest number of trafficking victims per 100,000 people of any state over a recent 5-year period, and in that state roughly 21% of the trafficking victims are minors.
  • Mississippi has one of the highest rates per capita of trafficking cases (≈ 6.31 per 100,000 people in 2020).
  • Florida also ranks very high in total reported cases; about 20% of those cases in Florida are children.
  • California accounts for 14.44% of all U.S. hotline-identified trafficking cases.*
  • Texas: 11.33% of U.S. cases.*
  • Florida: 6.93% of U.S. cases.*
  • New York: 4.75% of U.S. cases.*
  • Illinois: 3.21% of U.S. cases.*
  • Other states with sizable shares*: Georgia (2.85%), Ohio (2.78%), Pennsylvania (2.39%), Washington (2.26%), Missouri (2.27%).

    * Figures refer to 2023.

Sources: The UN, the ILO, IOM, UNODC, UNICEF, UNHCR, The U.S. Department of State, The Counter Trafficking Data Collective, National Human Trafficking Hotline, unicefusa.org, oig.hhs.gov, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Joslyn Law Firm, World Population Review, polarisproject.org, DeliverFund.org.