How many slaves currently

1. The headline figures — why numbers vary

Different organisations measure “modern slavery” with different definitions and methods, producing different headline totals: the ILO/IOM/Walk Free global estimates reported about 50 million people in modern slavery in 2021, split into 28 million in forced labour and 22 million in forced marriage ^{[1] [5]}. Walk Free’s Global Slavery Index provides country-by-country estimates and other organisations (and secondary sites summarising those reports) give totals around 46–49.6 million depending on which components are included and how prevalence is modelled ^{[4] [2] [3]}.

2. What “modern slavery” includes — scope matters

Modern slavery is an umbrella term that can include forced labour, human trafficking, debt bondage, forced marriage and slavery-like practices; whether a dataset includes forced marriage, state-imposed forced labour, or only forced labour and trafficking changes totals substantially ^{[6] [4] [3]}. For instance, the 50‑million figure cited by the ILO/IOM/Walk Free explicitly includes forced marriage as well as forced labour ^{[1] [5]}.

3. Recent trends — numbers rising, according to major estimates

The joint Global Estimates reported an increase of about 10 million people compared with 2016 estimates, and described the situation as worsening, with 50 million in 2021 ^{[1] [5]}. Reporting and commentary from organisations such as Walk Free and the World Economic Forum note that conflict, COVID-19, climate displacement, and governance gaps have pushed vulnerable people into exploitation and complicated responses ^{[4] [7]}.

4. Geographic concentration and examples

Country-level work from the Global Slavery Index finds that prevalence is highest in conflict-affected or weak-governance settings and that large absolute numbers concentrate in populous countries: for example, one Statista summary of Walk Free data listed India with an estimated 11 million people living in modern slavery and China with 5.8 million as of 2021 ^{[8] [4]}. The Index maps and commentary emphasise that modern slavery occurs in virtually every region and takes varied forms, from forced labour in supply chains to forced marriage ^{[9] [4]}.

5. Data limitations and methodological disagreements

Estimates depend on definitions, survey design, modelling choices and the quality of country data. The Wikipedia overview and organisations compiling figures warn there is no universally agreed definition and that people in slavery are often hidden and hard to count; as a result, estimates range and are debated ^{[3] [10]}. World Economic Forum commentary and Walk Free’s notes also say that data silos, diverted resources, and evolving drivers make measurement and response harder ^{[7] [4]}.

6. Why different outlets quote different totals

Secondary sources and advocacy sites sometimes quote different numbers depending on which primary estimate they prioritise or whether they round and aggregate different reports; for instance, some sources cite 49.6 million as an ILO figure while others use 50 million or 46 million depending on the scope and update cited ^{[11] [1] [2]}. Always check whether a headline number includes forced marriage and which year the estimate refers to ^{[1] [4]}.

7. Policy framing and competing perspectives

Organisations such as the ILO frame the rise as an urgent human-rights and labour-governance failure and highlight international law and SDG targets; Walk Free and civil-society groups emphasise government response scores and supply-chain accountability ^{[1] [4]}. The World Economic Forum highlights systemic drivers including climate displacement and calls for better data collaboration, signalling a posture that the problem is structural and requires cross-sectoral solutions ^[7].

8. Bottom line for readers and journalists

There is broad agreement among the major datasets that tens of millions of people are currently living in conditions the compilers categorise as modern slavery; specific totals vary by definition and methodology ^{[1] [4] [2]}. When you see a headline number, check whether it: (a) cites the source and year, (b) includes forced marriage, and (c) is a modeled estimate rather than a direct count — those three factors explain most discrepancies across reporting ^{[1] [3] [4]}.

Limitations: available sources do not mention any definitive “current” count beyond the cited 2021-based global estimates and later 2023/2025 index outputs; different outlets summarise those primary reports in slightly different ways and the most recent methodological publications continue to evolve ^{[1] [4]}.