A women facing downward is in front of a wall and is holding her hands up to protect herself from attackers.

In 2021, in the EU, the number of registered victims of human trafficking was 7 155, a 10% increase compared with 2020 (6 534). 

In the same year, more than two-thirds of registered victims of human trafficking were women or girls (68%), a small increase from 2020 (67%) but lower than the 2008-2018 values. 

 

Line graph: Registered victims of human trafficking, number of persons, 2008-2021

Source dataset: crim_thb_sex

 

Sexual exploitation is the predominant form of exploitation
In 2021, sexual exploitation was still the predominant form of exploitation, at 56%. 

Exploitation by forced labour and services was 29% in 2021, slightly lower than in 2019 and 2020, but still higher than in previous years.

The share of organ removal and other exploitative purposes, including use for benefit fraud, criminal activities and forced begging was 16% in 2021. Compared with 2020 and 2019, when this share was close to 12%, this represents an increase of 4 percentage points.

 

Bar chart: Forms of exploitation for registered victims of trafficking in human beings, %, 2008-2021

Source dataset: crim_thb_vexp

For more information

 

Methodological notes: 

  • Trafficking in human beings, as it is defined in the art. 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.
  • The number of persons reported to be involved in trafficking in human beings can widely vary 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. 
  • Registered victims include persons who have been identified by the relevant formal authority or by other national and non-national authorities.
  • Data on victims show totals for responding countries. As some EU Member States had not reported data for some years, the observed trend has to be interpreted with caution.
  • Data on form of exploitation:
    • Finland and Sweden: 2020 and 2021 data not available

 

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