Forced labor generates over €100 billion anually

At least 110 billion euros are generated every year from 21 million forced laborers who are not payed or underpayed workers, according to the International Labor Organisation (ILO).

2012 figures released by ILO showed over half of all forced laborers are in the Asian-Pacific region and account for 38 billion euros in profit annually, almost all of which goes to developped countries, including the EU.

Commercial sexual exploitation produces the highest profit per victim, generating two thirds of the total profit from 4.5 million people, most of which are women and girls.

Men and boys, on the other hand, are mostly exploited by the construction, agriculture and mining industries.

ILO calls the forced labor issue a 'fundamentally evil, but hugely profitable practice' and, in order to eradicate it as quickly as possible, governments need to turn to the root cause of forced labor, trafficking and slavery.

Because forced labor is linked to poverty and poor education, ILO suggests that governments should focus on improving education levels and find ways of preventing households from falling into the poverty that makes people vulnerable to labor exploitation.