Overview

• Authorities closed 576 investigations into human trafficking and exploitation in 2024, a rise of more than 13% from 2023 and the highest total since record-keeping began in 2000.
• Sexual exploitation led the caseload with 364 investigations, the highest in a decade, and increasingly occurred in private residences, indicating a large number of undetected offenses.
• More than 200 investigations involved children and adolescents, including 195 cases of commercial sexual exploitation.
• The BKA says recruitment frequently happens online, with two cases of children offered for sale on the internet and expanded use of the “loverboy” method marked by growing psychological and physical violence.
• Labor exploitation investigations also reached a record, often linked to temporary-work agencies and victims from Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, with about one-third initiated by the customs FKS as many victims avoid contacting authorities.