Resources for human trafficking statistics. Below is taken directly from the Polaris website: Polaris.org
Although slavery is commonly thought to be a thing of the past, human traffickers generate hundreds of billions of dollars in profits by trapping millions of people in horrific situations around the world, including here in the U.S. Traffickers use violence, threats, deception, debt bondage, and other manipulative tactics to force people to engage in commercial sex or to provide labor or services against their will. While more research is needed on the scope of human trafficking, below are a few key statistics:
The International Labour Organization estimates that there are 40.3 million victims of human trafficking globally.
81% of them are trapped in forced labor.
25% of them are children.
75% are women and girls.
The International Labor Organization estimates that forced labor and human trafficking is a $150 billion industry worldwide.
The U.S. Department of Labor has identified 139 goods from 75 countries made by forced and child labor.
In 2016, an estimated 1 out of 6 endangered runaways reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children were likely child sex trafficking victims.
Of those, 86% were in the care of social services or foster care when they ran.
There is no official estimate of the total number of human trafficking victims in the U.S. Polaris estimates that the total number of victims nationally reaches into the hundreds of thousands when estimates of both adults and minors, and sex trafficking and labor trafficking, are aggregated.
Statistics from the National Human Trafficking Hotline, UNODC, and GAATW.ORG
• The UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons (2024) shows a 25% increase in detected trafficking victims between 2019/2022
• In the same report, child trafficking rose by 31%, with girls accounting for a disproportionate share.
• According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Countering Human Trafficking, in FY 2024:
• Over 800 victims were assisted by DHS.
• There were 2,545 trafficking-related arrests.
• DHS supported 914 indictments and 405 convictions.
• The UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking (UNVTF) directly assisted 11,954 victims in 2024 across 32 countries.
• From the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) 2024 report: forced labor has surged, with a 47% increase in cases.
• For U.S.-based data: According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, in 2024:
• 32,309 signals were received.
• 11,999 trafficking cases were identified, involving 21,865 victims.
• Of those cases: 6,647 were sex trafficking, 2,220 labor trafficking.
More than 40,000 total cases of human trafficking have been reported to the Hotline in the last 10 years.
The Hotline annually receives multiple reports of human trafficking cases in each of the 50 states and D.C. Read more Hotline statistics here.
The number of human trafficking cases that Polaris learns about in the U.S. increases every year.
20% of texting conversations on the Polaris BeFree Textline were from survivors of human trafficking compared to 13% of phone calls on the Hotline. Read Polaris BeFree Textline statistics here.
The Hotline receives an average of 90 calls per day. Read stories of survivors who called the hotline for help.
Highest Reported States in the US
The Department of State lists the top three states with the most human trafficking activity as California, New York, and Texas.
2024 State Department Report on Human Trafficking can be found on:
https://www.hsdl.org/c/2024-state-department-report-on-human-trafficking-released/
2024 Human Trafficking Persons Report
https://www.state.gov/reports/2024-trafficking-in-persons-report/
2024 Top 3 States for Human Trafficking
California 1,733
Texas 1,360
Florida 832
10,583 HT cases reported
32,309 signals ( calls, texts, emails) to the National Human Trafficking Hotline