How much crimes really pay
09 March 2016
The blackest markets
Ever wondered just how much the crooks are earning? It’s estimated to be around £457 billion per year. We’ve used the most recent data from the World Economic Forum to look at the highest-grossing illegal trades.
Diamonds
The illegal diamond trade accounts for £633 million of the global crime’s illicit trade.
Diamonds
Often referred to as conflict or blood diamonds, the illegal trade of these precious gems has long funded brutal civil wars and armed conflicts across Africa, resulting in the death and displacement of millions of people. Countries such as Angola, the Central African Republic and Sierra Leone have been hit the hardest. The United Nations, along with the World Diamond Council, have created a joint initiative in an effort to stem to flow of conflict diamonds into a legitimate international trade.
Small arms
The illegal trafficking of small arms brings in £700 million globally.
Small arms
Despite more than a decade passing since the adoption of the United Nations Program of Action, which laid the foundation for cracking down on the illicit trade of small arms, it remains a global issue. It’s particularly prevalent in areas affected by organized crime and armed conflict, such as the Middle East and Africa, where the demand for illegal weapons is high. It’s estimated that small arms are responsible for the deaths of half a million people every year.
Human organs
The human organs trade makes an estimated £840 million per year.
Human organs
The World Health Organization estimates that 10,000 black market operations involving human organs take place each year. An increase in diabetes and other diseases is cited as the reason behind the growing international demand for replacement organs like kidneys, which make up 75% of the global illicit trade in organs. According to reports, many patients travel to China, India or Pakistan, paying up to £140,000 to gangs who harvest organs from the poor, who only get paid £3,000.
Gold
Illegally trading gold yields an estimated £1.6 billion per year.
Gold
One of the worst nations affected by the illicit trade of gold is the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where some 65% of the country’s gold mines are controlled by insurgents. According to reports such rebel groups are responsible for an international smuggling network worth an estimated £281 million a year.
Art and cultural property
The illicit trade of art makes around £4.4 billion each year globally.
Art and cultural property
For years, terror groups like al-Qaeda and the Taliban have been big contributors to the illicit art trade. And with Syria’s violet war showing no signs of slowing down, Islamic State have turned to illegally traded artworks as a source of income. In 2015 the UN Security Council adopted resolution 2199, which formally recognizes the link between the traffic of antiquities and terrorism funding, banning the trade of Iraqi and Syrian artefacts and antiquities.
Timber
Also known as illegal logging, the illicit trading of timber grosses an estimated £4.9 billion around the world each year.
Timber
According to the World Bank the annual global timber market loses £7 billion annually from illegal logging. And it’s reaching all corners of the globe with 61% of timber production in Indonesia stemming from illegal logging, 25% in Russia and a staggering 70% in Gabon. Since INTERPOL launched Operation Lead, aimed at tackling illegal logging, in 2013, it’s seized nearly £28 million-worth of timber around the world.
Fish
Each year £6.6 billion is made from illicitly traded fish around the world.
Fish
According to reports in 2014, illegal fishing in the Asia-Pacific region killed between 3.8-8.1 million tonnes of fish. The most recent culprit is Thailand, which was given a warning by the EU for questionable fishing ethics, including unregistered vessels. In 2014, it’s thought that up to 39% of Thailand’s seafood entering the US market was unlawfully caught. If it doesn’t clean up its act, the world’s third largest seafood exporter could be hit with a trade ban.
Illicit wildlife trade
Wildlife, which includes both animals and plant resources and is the fifth highest illegally-traded entity, makes £7 billion a year.
Illicit wildlife trade
Some of the worst offenders in this area are China and Kenya. The latter sits in the center of the elephant trade network while China is a hotspot for rhinoceros and tigers. UN data reveals more African elephants are being killed for their ivory than are being born with at least 20,000 poached in 2015. To provide a snapshot of the scale of trafficking, WWF revealed over 100 million tonnes of fish, 1.5 million live birds and 440,000 tonnes of medicinal plants were traded in just one year.
Illicit oil trade
Illegally traded oil makes £7.6 billion each year around the world.
Illicit oil trade
Much like trafficking artworks, the UN Security Council believe much of the illegal oil trade stems from terror groups such as Islamic State and Jabhat Al-Nusra. Recently, Russian military chiefs have publicly accused the Turkish government of funneling millions of dollars in illicit oil revenues to Islamic State terrorists in Syria and Iraq.
Forced labour
Commonly referred to as slave labour, this sector grosses a reported £22 billion every year.
Forced labour
Approximately 21 million men, women and children are falling prey to human traffickers, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO). The ILO estimates that 68% of these people are victims of labour exploitation, a further 22% are sexually exploited, with the remainder forced to work in prisons or in work imposed by military or rebel forces.
Counterfeiting
In second place as the highest earning illicit trade is counterfeiting, which can include everything from alcohol to clothing. This trade earns an estimated £175 billion per year.
Counterfeiting
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), groups such as the Mafia and Camorra in Europe and the Americas and the Triads and Yakuza in Asia have diversified into the illicit trafficking of counterfeit goods. And as more shopping moves online, so the opportunities to sell those counterfeit goods grow too. Counterfeit seizures made at the European borders in 2008 reveal clothing made up a whopping 57% of goods, with the next closest was jewellery and watches at 10%.
Drug trafficking
Taking out the top spot as the highest earning illicit trade is drug trafficking, which grossed a whopping £225 billion per year.
Drug trafficking
The latest World Drug Report by the UNODC reveals that world heroin consumption (340 tonnes) and seizures represent an annual flow of 430-450 tons of heroin into the global market. In 2007 and 2008, cocaine was used by some 17 million people worldwide, similar to the number of global opiate users. North America accounted for more than 40% of global cocaine consumption (the total was estimated around 470 tonnes) which is largely transported from Colombia to Mexico or Central America.
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