Sexual exploitation drives 37% rise in profits from forced labour, UN International Labour Organization says

International Labour Organization report says profits have risen to £184bn a year, with 27m people globally trapped in modern slavery. Sex traffickers are making an average of £21,000 a year from each of their victims as profits from forced labour around the world soar, according to new estimates from the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

The ILO, a UN agency, said the annual global profits from forced labour had risen to $236bn (£185bn) as record numbers of people were forced into modern slavery.

Sexual exploitation is by far the most lucrative form of forced labour. While only 27% of people subjected to forced labour were sexually exploited, the ILO said, the profits generated by this crime accounted for 73% of the total illegal profits from all forms of forced labour.

The ILO said that its new estimates on forced labour showed a 37% rise from the last set of figures, released in 2014.