The latest Global Slavery Index, produced by the human rights group Walk Free, says that 50 million people worldwide live in modern slavery and the number has grown by 10 million since 2018 against the backdrop of increasing and more complex conflicts, widespread environmental degradation, climate-induced migration, a global rollback of women’s rights, and the economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report highlights the role played by G20 nations in fuelling forced labour within global supply chains, including state-imposed forced labour.

The G20 accounts for over half of all people living in modern slavery and imports US$468 billion of at-risk products annually.

The United States was by far the biggest importer of at-risk products (US$169.6 billion).

Electronics remained the highest-value at-risk product (US$243.6 billion), followed by garments (US$ 147.9 billion), palm oil (US$19.7 billion), solar panels (US$14.8 billion), and textiles (US$12.7 billion).

The Global Slavery Index says that the 10 countries with the highest prevalence of modern slavery are North Korea, Eritrea, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, Tajikistan, United Arab Emirates, Russia, Afghanistan, and Kuwait.

Aljazeera.