Recruitment fees across regions and migration corridors

When conducting a general analysis per type of exploitation, the recruitment fees paid by victims of forced labour or sexual exploitation are higher among individuals of Asian origin when compared to victims from Africa or Europe.^[1]

When focusing only on the sectors of labour exploitation, this trend persists among victims exploited in agriculture and domestic work. However, on average, among victims engaged in construction or manufacturing, European victims paid the highest recruitment fees, followed by Asian victims.

In general, victims trafficked internationally paid recruiters about USD 400 more than those who were trafficked domestically. Regarding international trafficking, victims paid varying average fees across regions: USD 1,237 in Africa, USD 1,844 in the Americas, USD 1,397 in Asia, and USD 1,277 in Europe. In comparison to the average fees paid by internationally trafficked victims, those trafficked domestically paid approximately 25% higher fees in Asia, 20% lower in Africa, and 75% lower in Europe.

Considering statistics on average monthly earnings, trafficked persons paid recruiters about USD 1,200 in 19 migration corridors.^[2] On average, trafficked persons paid the equivalent of six months of earnings in their country of origin on recruitment fees.

^[1] The data story on Victims who paid recruitment fees briefly defines what we co recruitment fees.

^[2] For methodological details, please refer to the ILO and IOM joint article on Recruitment fees paid by victims of trafficking (forthcoming). For a detailed explanation of the data, please check the codebook of the Global Synthetic Victim-Perpetrator Dataset. For a closer look at the victim-perpetrator relationship, check the Perpetrators of trafficking data story.