3 published verifications about Modern Slavery Modern Slavery ×
“In 2021, about 29.3 million people were living in modern slavery in Asia and the Pacific.”
The evidence supports this figure as the Global Slavery Index 2023 estimate for Asia and the Pacific in 2021. The main confusion comes from comparing “modern slavery” with “forced labour” alone or from weaker secondary sources that misstate the number. This is a modelled point-in-time estimate, not a direct census count.
“In 2021, North Korea had the highest prevalence of modern slavery in the world.”
The best available global estimate places North Korea highest for modern-slavery prevalence in 2021. That conclusion comes from Walk Free’s Global Slavery Index, the main source on this topic. But the figure is modelled under major data limitations because North Korea is highly closed, so the claim is better understood as a leading estimate than as a directly verified fact.
“The number of people living in modern slavery worldwide has increased by 25% over the last decade.”
Modern slavery appears to have increased globally, but the cited figure and timeframe do not match the strongest evidence. The best-supported estimate is an increase from 40.3 million in 2016 to 49.6 million in 2021—about 23% over five years, not 25% over a decade. No authoritative source in the record confirms a precise decade-long 25% rise.