Global Slavery Index

The Global Slavery Index provides a ranking of 162 countries, reflecting a combined measure of three factors -

• estimated prevalence of modern slavery by population
• a measure of child marriage and 
• a measure of human trafficking in and out of a country. 

The measure is heavily weighted to reflect the first factor, prevalence.

A number one ranking is the worst, 160 is the best.

Mauritania, a West African nation with deeply entrenched hereditary slavery, is ranked number 1 in the Index. This reflects the high prevalence of slavery in Mauritania – it is estimated that there are between 140,000 – 160,000 people enslaved in Mauritania, a country with a population of just 3.8 million. This ranking also reflects high levels of child marriage, and to a lesser extent, human trafficking

Haiti, a Caribbean nation plagued by conflict, natural disaster and with deeply entrenched practices of child slavery (the restavek system), is second on the Index. This reflects high prevalence of modern slavery – an estimated 200,000 – 220,000 people are in modern slavery in Haiti, a country with a population of just 10.2 million. This ranking also reflects high levels of child marriage, and human trafficking from Haiti itself

Pakistan, with its porous borders to Afghanistan, large populations of displaced persons and weak rule of law, is third on the Index. It is estimated that there are between 2,000,000 – 2,200,000 people in various forms of modern slavery in Pakistan, a country with a population of over 179 million

The Global Slavery Index also provides insight into the estimated absolute numbers of people in modern slavery, in 162 countries. When the estimated number of enslaved people is considered in absolute terms as a single factor, the country ranking shifts considerably
The countries with the highest numbers of enslaved people are -

• India -estimated to have between 13,300,000 and 14,700,000 people enslaved
• China -estimated 2,800,000 to 3,100,000 in modern slavery
• Pakistan - estimated 2,000,000 to 2,200,000 people in modern slavery.
• Nigeria
• Ethiopia
• Russia
• Thailand
• Democratic Republic of Congo
• Myanmar and  
• Bangladesh 

Taken together, these countries account for 76% of the total estimate of 29.8 million in modern slavery

Rank	Country Name	Population	Calculated Number of Enslaved	Estimated Enslaved (Lower Range)	Estimate Enslaved (Upper Range)
1	Mauritania	3,796,141	151,353	140,000	160,000
2	Haiti	10,173,775	209,165	200,000	220,000
3	Pakistan	179,160,111	2,127,132	2,000,000	2,200,000
4	India	1,236,686,732	13,956,010	13,300,000	14,700,000
5	Nepal	27,474,377	258,806	250,000	270,000
6	Moldova	3,559,541	33,325	32,000	35,000
7	Benin	10,050,702	80,371	76,000	84,000
8	Cote d'voire	19,839,750	156,827	150,000	160,000
9	Gambia	1,791,225	14,046	13,000	15,000
10	Gabon	1,632,572	13,707	13,000	14,000