Today, on 11 December, the 2024 UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons was launched. This 8th edition of the Global Report provides a snapshot of the trafficking patterns and flows at global, regional, and national levels. It covers 156 countries and provides an overview of the response to human trafficking by analysing trafficking cases detected between 2019 and 2023. A major focus of this edition of the Report is on trends of detections and convictions that show the changes over the years. Findings are also based on an analysis of summaries of more than 1000 court cases adjudicated between 2012 and 2023.
Like with previous years, this edition of the Global Report on Trafficking in Persons presents a global picture of the trends, patterns, and flows of trafficking (Chapter 1). There are separate chapters on world regions, including on Eastern Europe combined with Central Asia and on Central and South Eastern Europe
In line with other statistics published over 2022, by our members and the European Commission, we see:
An increase in detected victims; UNODC reports a 25 per cent increase in the number of trafficking victims detected globally in 2022 in comparison with 2019.
More cases detected of children – UNODC reports an increase of 31 percent in 2022 compared to 2019, with a 38 percent rise recorded for girls.
Women and girls continue to account for the majority of victims detected worldwide (61 percent in 2022). The majority of girl victims (60 percent) detected continue to be trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. An increase in cases of trafficking for labour exploitation is also noted though.
Around 45 percent of detected boys are trafficked for forced labour and another 47 percent are exploited for other purposes, including forced criminality and begging.
See also the press release UNODC global human trafficking report: detected victims up 25 percent as more children are exploited and forced labour cases spike