TL;DR: Reported human trafficking victims in India have remained in the above 5000 range in recent years, with a dip during the COVID-19 period. Women consistently account for a large share of victims, while sexual exploitation and forced labour remain the leading purposes of trafficking, with significant differences in patterns across states.

Context

Human trafficking is one of the most serious forms of exploitation, often targeting people in vulnerable social and economic circumstances. In India, trafficking takes different forms, including forced labour, sexual exploitation, domestic servitude and forced marriage. While trafficking can occur across state and international borders, many cases also involve movement within the country. The nature of the crime makes it difficult to detect, with victims often facing coercion, deception or threats that limit their ability to seek help. Examining reported trafficking related data over time can provide insights into the scale of the problem, the groups most affected, and how patterns vary across states and forms of exploitation.

Who compiles this data?
The data is published annually by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) as part of its Crime in India report. It is compiled from crime data reported by States and UTs through their police departments.

Where can I download clean & structured data related to this?

Clean, structured, and ready-to-use collection of datasets on Human Trafficking is available on Dataful. The collection covers data on human trafficking cases, victims, arrests, trafficking purposes, and institutional response. In addition, Dataful offers comprehensive datasets based on the NCRB’s Crime in India series.

Key Insights

• The number of reported victims fell sharply after the unusually high figure in 2016, when over 15,000 victims were reported. It dropped to about 5,900 in 2017 and has remained below 7,000 in every year since.

• The reported number of victims declined during the COVID-19 year, falling from 6,616 in 2019 to 4,709 in 2020. The number rebounded to 6,533 in 2021 but has since fluctuated around 6,000.

• Women consistently accounted for a large share of victims, with female victims outnumbering males in every year. In 2024, women accounted for about 63% of all victims, while adults made up 62%, up from around 60% in 2017.

• The gender and age profile of rescued victims was similar to that of reported victims, but with a notable difference among males. Women accounted for nearly two-thirds of those rescued in 2024, with adult women alone making up 47%. Among male victims, however, those below 18 consistently outnumbered adults.

• Similar to the number of victims, 2016 was a major outlier in the data, with 23,117 persons rescued, largely driven by 10,509 rescued from forced labour and 4,980 from sexual exploitation for prostitution. In the years since, the total has remained below 7,000, with 5,839 persons rescued in 2024.

• Sexual exploitation for prostitution and forced labour were the two largest reported purposes of trafficking among rescued persons in recent years. Together, they accounted for nearly two-thirds of those rescued in 2024, with sexual exploitation for prostitution accounting for about 40% and forced labour for about 26%.

• The pattern has shifted in recent years, with forced labour declining while sexual exploitation rose. Persons rescued from forced labour fell from 3,335 in 2022 to 1,493 in 2024, while those rescued from sexual exploitation for prostitution increased from 1,983 to 2,347 over the same period.

• Forced labour was the largest reported purpose overall, accounting for about 25,000 rescued persons over the period. However, the figure was heavily influenced by 2016, when more than 10,500 persons were rescued from forced labour. Excluding 2016, sexual exploitation for prostitution becomes the largest category.

• Sexual exploitation for prostitution has remained a consistently prominent category, with more than 20,000 persons rescued over the nine years. Unlike forced labour, it has remained relatively high in recent years, reaching 2,347 persons in 2024, the highest since 2016.

• Forced marriage remained a recurring form of trafficking, with more than 1,800 persons rescued for this purpose between 2016 and 2024. The number was relatively consistent through 2016–2022 but declined in the following two years, reaching 98 in 2024.

• Rescues linked to domestic servitude peaked during the COVID-19 period, rising more than two-fold from 364 in 2019 to 846 in 2020. The numbers have since declined steadily, reaching 105 in 2024, the lowest level in the period apart from 2017–19.

• The purpose of trafficking differed considerably across states, and these patterns have persisted over time. Sexual exploitation for prostitution has remained particularly prominent in Maharashtra and Telangana, while forced labour has been more prominent in Odisha and Rajasthan in recent years.

• Maharashtra’s rescued victims have been consistently trafficked for sexual exploitation for prostitution. The state recorded 946 such rescued victims in 2019, 852 in 2023 and 829 in 2024, showing that this has remained a major trafficking purpose even as the numbers fluctuated.

• The pattern is different in Odisha and Rajasthan, where forced labour has been more prominent. In 2024, forced labour accounted for 152 rescues in Odisha and 273 in Rajasthan, while sexual exploitation for prostitution accounted for only 18 and 38, respectively.

• In contrast, forced marriage featured more prominently in Assam and Madhya Pradesh.

Why does it matter?

The data shows that human trafficking in India is uniform in terms of the purpose. The nature of trafficking differs across states, while the profile of victims and the purposes for which they are trafficked have also changed over time. The sharp fall from the 2016 peak, the continued predominance of women among victims, and the recent shift from forced labour towards sexual exploitation highlight the changing nature of trafficking and the need to examine patterns beyond overall case counts.

Key Numbers

• 15,000+ → ~5,900 — Reported victims fell sharply between 2016 and 2017.

• 6,616 → 4,709 — Reported victims declined during 2019–20, before recovering to 6,533 in 2021.

• 63% — Share of female victims among reported victims in 2024.

• 23,117 → 5,839 — Persons rescued fell between 2016 and 2024.

• 2,347 — Persons rescued for sexual exploitation for prostitution in 2024, the highest since 2016.

• 3,335 → 1,493 — Persons rescued from forced labour declined between 2022 and 2024.