Trafficking in human beings statistics

Data extracted in January 2023

Planned article update: December 2023

Highlights

In 2021, there were 7 155 victims of trafficking in human beings in the EU and 2 517 convicted traffickers.

In 2021, 2 out of 3 victims of trafficking were female while only 1 out of 5 suspected traffickers was female.

In 2021, 59% of registered victims of trafficking in the EU were citizens of Member States.

The statistics presented in this article are based on official figures for persons involved (registered victims^[1], suspected traffickers^[2] and convicted traffickers^[3]) in trafficking in human beings in the European Union (EU) between 2008 and 2021. Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims (Anti-trafficking Directive) lays down, in Articles 19 and 20, requirements for EU Member States to gather and report on statistics on trafficking in human beings. Eurostat has been collecting and making available EU-wide data since 2008. This data collection has been carried out as a coordinated effort between the national rapporteurs and/or equivalent mechanisms for reporting statistics on trafficking in human beings and the European Commission (Eurostat). The data are unadjusted and published as they are reported by EU Member States.

Trafficking in human beings, as defined in Article 2 of the Directive 2011/36/EU, is a grave violation of human rights, a crime against the person, the goal of which is the exploitation of the person. Trafficking does not require the crossing of borders and can have many exploitative purposes.

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Number of registered victims and of suspected and convicted traffickers

Figure 1 shows the number of persons involved in trafficking in human beings by legal status (registered victims, suspected and convicted traffickers). Registered victims include persons who have been identified by the relevant formal authority or by other national and non-national authorities. In 2021, the number of registered victims of trafficking in human beings in the EU was 7 155, an increase by 9.5 % compared with the previous year^[4]. In 2021, the number of suspected traffickers was 9 647, compared with 7 290 in 2020 partly due to more countries providing data in 2021^[5]. Taking into account the countries that provided data in both years, the number of suspected traffickers rose by 12.5 % in 2021 compared with 2020. In 2021, the number of convicted traffickers was 2 517, compared with 1 295 in previous year, partly due to the fact that one additional country provided the data^[6]. Considering the countries that provided data for both years, the number of convicted traffickers increased by 54.9 % in 2021 compared with 2020, and 14 countries recorded an increase in the number of people convicted of trafficking in human beings compared with the previous year. In 2021, the two figures for traffickers reached their highest values in the period 2008-2021. However, the number of convicted persons remained much lower than the number of those suspected of trafficking in human beings. As some EU Member States had not reported data for some years, the observed trend has to be interpreted with caution. The Covid-19 effects should also be taken into account when interpreting the decrease in 2020 for all data.

Figure 1: Persons involved in trafficking in human beings by legal status, 2008-2021
Source: Eurostat (crim_thb_sex)

Two-thirds of registered victims of trafficking are women or girls

As shown in Figure 2, in 2021, 68.4 % of registered victims of trafficking in human beings in the EU were women or girls. The share of women and girls increased slightly from the previous year (67.4 % in 2020) but stayed lower than the 2008-2018 values. The proportion of women among the traffickers is much lower compared with the proportion of men. In 2021, among the suspected traffickers, 20.5 % were women (24.0 % in 2020) and 22.5 % of those convicted were women (25.9 % in 2020).

Figure 2: Prevalence of females in registered victims, suspected traffickers and convicted of trafficking in human beings, 2015-2021 (%)
Source: Eurostat (crim_thb_sex)

16 registered victims of trafficking per one million inhabitants

As shown in Figure 3, in 2021, there were 16 registered victims of trafficking in human beings per one million inhabitants in the EU, compared with 15 in 2020. In 2021, the highest rates in the EU were observed in Luxembourg (79), the Netherlands (45), Austria (44), Latvia (32), France (27), Estonia, Romania and Finland (26 each) while the lowest rates were observed in Czechia (1), Spain (4) and Croatia (5). Higher rates could be also linked to a greater capacity of the judiciary and social system to identify victims, as it was the case in 2021 for Luxembourg where a proactive attitude of labour inspectors who participated in mandatory training courses on human trafficking led to the identification of more victims.

Figure 3: Registered victims of trafficking in human beings, 2020-2021 (per one million inhabitants),
Source: Eurostat (crim_thb_sex)

44 % of registered victims are citizens of the reporting country

In 2021, for the EU as a whole, 43.9 % of the registered victims came from the reporting country, 15.4 % from other EU countries and 40.7 % from non-EU countries (Figure 4)^[7]. As the crime of trafficking does not require the crossing of borders, victims with the citizenship of the reporting country can return from abroad or be exploited in their own country. The victims' citizenship varies considerably across the EU. Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Latvia, Slovakia, Lithuania, Czechia, Croatia and Poland reported mostly victims from their own countries, while more than 75 % of the registered victims in Portugal, Ireland, Slovenia, Belgium, Greece, Spain, Denmark, Estonia and Malta came from non-EU countries.

Figure 4: Registered victims of trafficking in human beings by citizenship, 2021 (%)
Source: Eurostat (crim_thb_vctz)

Sexual exploitation is the predominant form of exploitation

As shown in Figure 5, sexual exploitation was still the predominant form of exploitation in 2021, at 55.7 %, although the prevalence is lower than in the 2008-2019 period. Meanwhile, exploitation by forced labour and services was 28.5 % in 2021, slightly lower than in 2019 and 2020, but still higher than in previous years. Organ removal and other exploitative purposes, including use for benefit fraud, criminal activities and forced begging, were at 15.8 % in 2021^[8].

Figure 5: Forms of exploitation for registered victims of trafficking in human beings, 2008-2021 (%)
Source: Eurostat (crim_thb_vexp)

Source data for tables and graphs

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Data sources

Statistics on crime and criminal justice systems in general

Data sources include police and other law enforcement agencies, public prosecutors, law courts, prisons, relevant ministries and statistical offices. The national authorities are responsible for official figures that are sent to Eurostat and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The number of persons reported to be involved in trafficking in human beings can vary widely across the EU, even relative to population size, due to different approaches to reporting data in police, prosecutors and court systems, to different levels of transposition of the Directive across the EU Member States and different criminal justice responses to trafficking in human beings.

The data of this article

This article presents results based on official figures provided by national statistical offices and National Rapporteur or Equivalent Mechanisms on persons involved in trafficking in human beings from 2008 onwards. Non-governmental agencies, labour inspectors, social services, border guards, immigration services and other institutions are involved in reporting the number of victims according to national protocols for the detection of victims. The web database contains figures as reported (no adjustment). The totals for the EU include only countries which report the data. No adjustments or estimations are made for non-responding countries.

The crimes are classified in accordance with the ICCS (International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes)^[9]. Counting methodologies for offences and persons should be applied. Countries' compliance with counting methodologies is explained in the general and countries metadata. National sources and compliance with statistical definitions are explained in the trafficking in human beings metadata.

Context

Crime statistics are used by EU institutions, national authorities, media, politicians, organisations and the general public. Each state establishes its own criminal laws, defines crimes, legal proceedings and justice reactions, as well as specifications for official crime statistics (except for crimes covered by international or EU law). Typically, comparing crime statistics between countries is challenging due to different national criminal laws and different criminal justice systems.

However, it could also be argued that there are many similarities between European countries. This, combined with public and political interest, was the background for developing EU-wide crime statistics. Over the last decade, EU institutions, national authorities and the UN have cooperated to improve European crime statistics. A major quality improvement is to use a common classification of crimes.

Official crime statistics mainly reflect how the authorities register and handle cases. The figures are provided by national authorities such as the police, prosecutors, courts and prisons. Of those, police figures give the broadest picture, as they include recorded offences - whether or not they led to prosecution. Still, the police records do not measure the total occurrence of crime. Simply put, the total occurrence would be the reported crimes plus the unreported crimes, minus the incorrectly reported crimes.

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Notes

↑ Victims of trafficking in human beings.
↑ Persons suspected of the crime of trafficking in human beings.
↑ Persons convicted of the crime of trafficking in human beings.
↑ All EU Member States provided data for both years.
↑ For suspected persons, Ireland, the Netherlands and Romania provided data in 2021 but not in 2020, Belgium provided it in 2020 but not in 2021, while Estonia didn't provide it for both years.
↑ For convicted persons, Italy provided data in 2021 but not in 2020, while Belgium didn't provide it for both years.
↑ Prevalence is calculated on known values.
↑ Prevalence is calculated on known values. More than one form of exploitation can be recorded for a victim.
↑ See Monitoring EU crime policies using the International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS) on the correspondence between the EU Directive and the ICCS.

[1] Victims of trafficking in human beings.

[2] Persons suspected of the crime of trafficking in human beings.

[3] Persons convicted of the crime of trafficking in human beings.

[4] All EU Member States provided data for both years.

[5] For suspected persons, Ireland, the Netherlands and Romania provided data in 2021 but not in 2020, Belgium provided it in 2020 but not in 2021, while Estonia didn't provide it for both years.

[6] For convicted persons, Italy provided data in 2021 but not in 2020, while Belgium didn't provide it for both years.

[7] Prevalence is calculated on known values.

[8] Prevalence is calculated on known values. More than one form of exploitation can be recorded for a victim.

[9] See Monitoring EU crime policies using the International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS) on the correspondence between the EU Directive and the ICCS.

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