No one knows exactly how many people are trafficked, because most victims are never identified. What exists are records: contacts to the national hotline, reports to NCMEC, victims found by police and courts, and global estimates. These are the latest figures from each source, with what each one can and can’t tell you.
If someone is in danger right now
- Call 911 if anyone is in immediate danger.
- National Human Trafficking Hotline: call 1-888-373-7888 (TTY 711), text 233733, or chat at humantraffickinghotline.org/chat. It answers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in more than 200 languages.[1]
- If a child is being sexually exploited online, report it to NCMEC’s CyberTipline at report.cybertip.org or 1-800-843-5678.[2]
Fast Facts About Human Trafficking
- The National Human Trafficking Hotline identified 15,085 cases involving 21,457 victims in 2025.[3]
- NCMEC received more than 113,500 reports of possible child sex trafficking in 2025, up 323% from 2024. A 2024 law that requires online platforms to report it drove much of the jump.[4][5]
- Of more than 32,000 missing children reported to NCMEC in 2025, 1 in 7 were likely victims of child sex trafficking.[5]
- Governments identified 102,027 trafficking victims worldwide in 2024.[6]
- Children made up 38% of trafficking victims detected worldwide in 2022.[7]
- An estimated 27.6 million people were in forced labor on any given day in 2021, including 6.3 million in forced commercial sexual exploitation.[8]
Human Trafficking in the United States
There is no reliable count of how many people are trafficked in the US. The Justice Department’s statistics bureau says its data collections can’t estimate how common human trafficking is.[9] Every US figure below counts something narrower: hotline contacts, reports, investigations or prosecutions.
National Human Trafficking Hotline
The hotline is the largest source of US data on trafficking situations. In 2025 it identified 15,085 cases involving 21,457 victims, and received 52,664 signals (calls, texts, chats, emails and online reports), 10,971 of them from victims or survivors.[3]
- Type: 6,201 cases involved sex trafficking, 2,400 labor trafficking and 1,607 both. The other 4,877 cases had no type recorded.[3]
- Age: 2,221 of the victims whose age was recorded were minors, and 8,650 were adults.[3]
- Federal fiscal year 2025: the Department of Health and Human Services counts 13,623 potential trafficking situations, 3,643 of them reported to law enforcement. Its figures run October through September, so they won’t match the calendar-year numbers.[10]
Year-to-year comparisons are shaky right now. A new organization took over running the hotline from Polaris in late 2025, and the hotline’s site has since revised some earlier years’ figures.[11] For 2024, Polaris reported 11,999 situations involving 21,865 victims, of which 65% involved sex trafficking, 22% labor trafficking and 13% both.[12] The hotline’s site now lists 23,845 victims for that year.[3]
The hotline’s own caution applies to every number above: its statistics “do not reflect the prevalence of human trafficking,” only the people who knew about the hotline and chose to contact it.[3]
Hotline Cases by State
| State | Cases in 2025 | Share of all cases |
|---|---|---|
| California | 1,908 | 12.65% |
| Texas | 1,487 | 9.86% |
| Florida | 904 | 5.99% |
| New York | 606 | 4.02% |
Source: National Human Trafficking Hotline, 2025 data.[3] These rankings follow population and contact volume, not where trafficking is most common, and thousands of cases have no state recorded.
Federal Prosecutions
- Trafficking cases, fiscal year 2024: the Justice Department opened 789 human trafficking investigations, started 146 federal prosecutions, charged 223 defendants and convicted 210 traffickers, down from 289 the year before. Of those convictions, 181 involved mainly sex trafficking and 29 mainly labor trafficking.[13]
- The broader federal category, fiscal year 2023: 2,329 people were referred to US attorneys for human trafficking offenses, 1,213 were prosecuted and 1,008 were convicted. This count also includes child sexual exploitation and transporting someone for illegal sexual activity, which is why it’s larger.[9]
- Crimes known to police, 2022: an estimated 2,950 human trafficking incidents involving 3,570 victimizations, based on FBI data. 81% of the incidents were related to sex trafficking.[9]
Most US trafficking cases are prosecuted under state and local laws, which none of these federal counts include.[13]
Child Sex Trafficking Statistics
Under federal law, any commercial sex act involving someone under 18 is a severe form of trafficking. No force, fraud or coercion has to be shown.[14] A commercial sex act is any sex act in exchange for something of value, which NCMEC notes can be money, food, drugs or a place to stay.[5]
- Reports to NCMEC: 113,530 reports related to child sex trafficking in 2025, up 323% from 26,823 in 2024. Online companies made 93% of them. NCMEC says the increase followed the 2024 REPORT Act, which requires platforms to report child sex trafficking.[4][5]
- Missing children: of the more than 32,000 reports of missing children made to NCMEC in 2025, 1 in 7 involved children who were likely victims of child sex trafficking. Among children reported missing from child welfare care, it was 17%.[5]
- Hotline cases: 2,221 minors among 2025 hotline victims whose age was recorded.[3]
- Worldwide: children were 38% of the trafficking victims detected in 2022 (22% girls and 16% boys). Detections of children rose 31% from 2019, and 38% for girls.[7]
- Forced labor and exploitation: an estimated 3.3 million children were in forced labor on any given day in 2021, including 1.7 million in commercial sexual exploitation.[8]
NCMEC also describes a pattern parents should know about: buyers who approach children online directly and offer to pay for sex acts, with no third-party trafficker involved. Some first offer to pay a child for explicit images, then push toward meeting in person.[4]
How Traffickers Use the Internet
- Online recruitment: in 2021, the internet was the top recruitment location reported to the hotline. It accounted for 458 of the 704 victims whose recruitment location was known (65%), including dating sites (94), Facebook (69) and Instagram (49).[15] Those 704 were only about 4% of that year’s likely victims, so this isn’t the share of all victims recruited online.
- Online enticement: NCMEC received 1.41 million reports of online enticement in 2025, up 158%. They included more than 80,000 reports of sextortion and more than 800 in which an offender traveled to meet a child in person. NCMEC says this happens on every kind of platform, including online games, social media and messaging apps.[4]
- Federal assessment: the State Department’s latest report says traffickers use technology and social media to recruit and abuse victims, “fueling the rising threat of online child sex trafficking.”[13]
- Fake job offers: worldwide, social media and websites are increasingly used to recruit people through fake job advertisements.[8] UNODC reports that trafficking to force people to commit crimes, including online scams, grew from 1% of detected victims in 2016 to 8% in 2022.[16]
To recognize the warning signs early, see how predators find kids online, how online grooming works, how predators use Roblox and what to do about sextortion.
Human Trafficking Around the World
Global Estimates
The most widely used global figures come from the International Labour Organization, Walk Free and the International Organization for Migration. They estimated that on any given day in 2021:[8]
- 49.6 million people were in modern slavery: 27.6 million in forced labor and 22 million in forced marriage.
- 6.3 million people were in forced commercial sexual exploitation, nearly 4 in 5 of them women or girls.
- More than 12 million of the people in modern slavery were children.
These are estimates of modern slavery, not a count of trafficking victims. The report says trafficking isn’t included explicitly, though it’s closely linked.[8]
Victims Detected by Authorities
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime’s latest global report, covering 2022, found:[7][16]
- 25% more victims detected than in 2019, before the pandemic, and 43% more than in 2020.
- Women and girls made up 61% of detected victims.
- Forced labor was the most common purpose, at 42% of detected victims, followed by sexual exploitation at 36%. Forced-labor detections rose 47% from 2019 to 2022.
- 60% of girls detected were trafficked for sexual exploitation.
Victims Identified, Prosecutions and Convictions
| Year | Victims identified | Prosecutions | Convictions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 102,027 | 15,791 | 7,975 |
| 2023 | 133,939 | 18,774 | 7,145 |
Source: US State Department, 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report, global law enforcement data.[6] The department notes these are estimates built from government data that swing from year to year because trafficking is hidden and countries report it differently. Its 2026 report hadn’t been released as of early October 2026.
Sex Trafficking vs. Labor Trafficking
Which form is more common depends on who’s counting.
- US hotline cases (2025): sex trafficking appeared in 6,201 cases, labor trafficking in 2,400 and both in 1,607.[3]
- US crimes known to police (2022): 81% of trafficking incidents were related to sex trafficking.[9]
- Victims detected worldwide (2022): forced labor (42%) outnumbered sexual exploitation (36%).[7]
- Global estimates (2021): of the 27.6 million people in forced labor, 6.3 million were in forced commercial sexual exploitation.[8]
Why Trafficking Numbers Are Hard to Pin Down
- Most victims are never counted. Every source above records only the cases someone reported, detected or prosecuted.[9]
- Reports aren’t the same as children. NCMEC counts reports, and much of its 2025 increase reflects the new reporting requirement as well as any rise in exploitation.[4]
- A hotline case isn’t a confirmed crime. It’s a situation reported to the hotline, and the word doesn’t mean police were involved.[3]
- Detection depends on effort. UNODC’s figures cover victims identified by authorities, so they rise and fall with how hard countries look as well as with the crime itself.[7]
- Data years differ. The newest figures cover 2025 for the hotline and NCMEC, 2024 for global law enforcement, 2022 for UNODC and 2021 for the ILO estimates.
How to Report Human Trafficking
- Immediate danger: call 911.
- National Human Trafficking Hotline: call 1-888-373-7888, text 233733, chat at humantraffickinghotline.org/chat, or use the anonymous online tip form. For anything urgent or within the last 24 hours, the hotline asks you to call, text or chat instead of using the form.[17][1]
- Online exploitation of a child: if the exploitation is online, involves a child and the location is unknown, the hotline says to report it to NCMEC’s CyberTipline instead, at report.cybertip.org or 1-800-843-5678.[17][2]
If you’re a teen reaching out about yourself or a friend, know that hotline staff are mandated reporters. If you share identifying details about someone 17 or younger who is being harmed, they may pass the information to police or child protective services.[17]
For a step-by-step guide, see how to report human trafficking or child exploitation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people are victims of human trafficking?
No one knows the exact number. Governments identified 102,027 victims worldwide in 2024, and the most recent global estimate put 27.6 million people in forced labor on any given day in 2021. In the US, the national hotline identified 21,457 victims in the cases reported to it in 2025.[6][8][3]
How many children are trafficked?
Children made up 38% of trafficking victims detected worldwide in 2022. An estimated 3.3 million children were in forced labor in 2021, including 1.7 million in commercial sexual exploitation. In the US, NCMEC received 113,530 reports related to child sex trafficking in 2025.[7][8][4]
Which states have the most human trafficking?
California, Texas, Florida and New York had the most cases reported to the national hotline in 2025, with 1,908, 1,487, 904 and 606. Those totals follow population and contact volume, so they don’t show where trafficking is most common per person.[3]
Is human trafficking increasing?
Reports and detections are rising, but that doesn’t prove trafficking itself is. Victims detected worldwide rose 25% from 2019 to 2022, and NCMEC’s child sex trafficking reports rose 323% in 2025 after a new law required platforms to report. Better detection and new reporting rules explain part of both increases.[16][4]
What is the most common form of human trafficking?
Worldwide, forced labor is the most common form among detected victims, at 42%, ahead of sexual exploitation at 36%. In US hotline and police data, sex trafficking is reported more often than labor trafficking.[7][3][9]
How do I report human trafficking?
Call 911 if someone is in immediate danger. Otherwise contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888, by text at 233733 or by online chat. Report online sexual exploitation of a child to NCMEC’s CyberTipline at report.cybertip.org or 1-800-843-5678.[1][2]
Related Guides
- How to Report Human Trafficking or Child Exploitation
- How Predators Find Kids Online
- Signs of Online Grooming
- Roblox Predators
- Sextortion Help for Parents
- Sextortion Statistics 2026
- The Take It Down Act
- Kids Online Safety
- Online Safety Check for Parents
Sources
- National Human Trafficking Hotline. (n.d.). Contact us.
- National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. (n.d.). CyberTipline.
- National Human Trafficking Hotline. (2026). National statistics (2025 data).
- National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. (2026). 2025 CyberTipline report.
- National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. (n.d.). Child sex trafficking.
- U.S. Department of State. (2025). 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report.
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2024). Global report on trafficking in persons 2024.
- International Labour Organization, Walk Free, & International Organization for Migration. (2022). Global estimates of modern slavery: Forced labour and forced marriage.
- Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2026, revised July 23). Human trafficking data collection activities, 2025.
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. (2026, September 1). National Human Trafficking Hotline data.
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. (2025, December 23). FAQ: National Human Trafficking Hotline transition.
- Polaris. (2025). Annual report 2024.
- U.S. Department of State. (2025). 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report: United States.
- 22 U.S.C. § 7102. Definitions.
- Polaris. (2022). Polaris analysis of 2021 data from the National Human Trafficking Hotline.
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2024, December 11). UNODC global human trafficking report: Detected victims up 25 per cent as more children are exploited and forced labour cases spike.
- National Human Trafficking Hotline. (n.d.). Report trafficking.