12 Countries With the Most Slaves Today

While we like to think of slavery as a thing of the past, these countries with the most slaves today are a reminder that this abhorrent practice is far from meeting its end. Many consider slavery to have been exclusive to the U.S. back in the 1800s, but that is not an entirely accurate representation. There are many other countries with histories of slavery, including European countries such as France and Spain. Of course, this practice was widely accepted in the past and hence, was not simply limited to the West, which is why Arab countries, such as Oman, also have had a history of owning slaves. In fact, Iraq is considered to be the originator of this practice, almost 10,000 years ago. This should not be surprising as cruelty against people has always been a sad fact of life, and is prevalent even in the modern society as can be seen in the Worst Countries for a Woman to Live in.

This may lead you to wonder which countries had slavery in the 1800s? Well, the Oriental Slave Trade was practiced in the Swahili coast from the 9th century to the 19th century and was considered an important location for the slave trade in the 1800s. Furthermore, even though slavery was abolished in England in the late 1700s, it is believed that the practice of keeping slaves remained in the 1800s, before petering out. In the 19th century, countries started to abolish slavery, with the Netherlands abolishing slavery in 1861, while Cuba and Brazil abolished it in the 1880s, which means these were countries with slavery in 1860. 

While slavery is universally considered to be against human rights, countries with slavery today unfortunately still exist. While the government may have declared this act to be illegal, the people in various countries have continued a slave trade of human trafficking. For example, in India slavery still exists on a large level, and the government has been unable to make any inroads in this case.

In fact, it is estimated that around 45.8 million people globally are currently embroiled in modern slavery. Just think about that number for a moment. That number exceeds the population of many developed countries. It is hard to fathom that even now, with so much progress that has been made in human rights, tens of millions of people around the world have no rights at all. Incredibly, over 58% of this figure resides in just 5 countries, countries where slavery is still legal. In fact, it is not surprising that there is an overlap in our rankings and the rankings in the list of 11 worst Asian countries for human rights violations.

We obtained the Global Slavery Index 2016 which determines the number of slaves in each country globally. We considered both the total number of slaves in each country and the number of slaves as a percentage of the total findings to come up with accurate rankings. Our findings show that this problem is focused in Asia and Africa, with the top 4 countries being from Asia. It is certain that countries in this continent need to do more to counter this growing threat. Let’s start the countdown of the countries with the most slaves today.

12. Syria

Insider Monkey Score: 4

Syria has been in the global headlines in recent years because of the civil war occupying the country, which may have hidden the fact that slavery is also rampant in the country. In fact, the newest and most brutal face of terrorism, ISIS, is infamous for owning slaves.

10.  Yemen

Insider Monkey Score: 5

While officially illegal, slavery has all but been accepted formally in Yemen, though reports of slavery are reportedly being silenced by the government itself.

10. Cambodia

Insider Monkey Score: 5

Cambodia is one of the main countries involved in human trafficking, and by extension, involved in slavery as well, with children often being kidnapped and held as slaves or being forced into prostitution.

9. Afghanistan

Insider Monkey Score: 6.5

Afghanistan was destroyed by the Taliban in the 1990s and has never quite been the same since. Nowadays, reports have emerged that the soldiers present in the country use small boys as their sex slaves.

8. Bangladesh

Insider Monkey Score: 7.5

Bangladesh is another country which has failed to deal with human trafficking and as a result, cases have emerged where men looking for jobs have been captured and forced into slavery.

7. Iraq

Insider Monkey Score: 8

Another nation rampaged by war and terrorism, Iraq’s slavery epidemic has significantly increased after the arrival of ISIS, who are purported to have thousands of slaves.

6. Sudan

Insider Monkey Score: 9.5

A running theme in the ranking shows that countries decimated by civil war or terrorism also have an abundance of slaves, and the same is true for Sudan, where slavery rose significantly after the second civil war.

5. DR Congo

Insider Monkey Score: 12.5

DR Congo has many mining regions where slavery is common and the slaves are forced to work in the mines to extract minerals and other natural resources. The government being unable to crack down on this practice, which is why it makes our list of countries with the most slaves today.

4. Pakistan

Insider Monkey Score: 15.5

Pakistan has faced many problems in its turbulent history, perhaps because of which slavery has not been the main focus. However, bonded labor is a major issue in the country, though few steps have been taken to restrict its growth.

3. Uzbekistan

Insider Monkey Score: 16.5

The reason Uzbekistan is one of the countries with the most slaves today is because it is one of the few countries where slavery is state sponsored. Many slaves being used to pick cotton from the fields.

2. North Korea

Insider Monkey Score: 16.5

Little is known about North Korea mainly because its government considers everyone to be its enemy and doesn’t want the world to know how the country operates. However, enough research has been conducted to determine that slavery is a very real problem in the country, a problem encouraged by its leaders.

1. India

Insider Monkey Score: 17.5

The largest democracy in the world is also home to the largest number of slaves in the world, in excess of 18 million people! That means more than a third of the total slaves in the world are present in India, thus allowing it to top the list of countries with the most slaves today.