The International Labor Organization released a study on Tuesday stating that forced labor brings in $236 billion in unlawful profits annually, a significant rise of $64 billion from 2014.

According to the research, the rise in numbers can be attributed to a larger population of individuals who have been coerced into performing labor, and the association between greater rates of exploitation and greater monetary gains. Those who engage in trafficking and other illegal activities utilizing forced labor can potentially make up to $10,000 per victim.

According to a study, the most common form of forced labor is in commercial sex trade. This type of exploitation makes up 27% of all forced labor cases, but contributes to 73% of unlawful profits. The International Labor Organization stated that the majority of victims are female, with almost 80% being girls or women. Additionally, children make up over 25% of all forced labor cases.

According to the ILO (International Labor Organization), around 85% of individuals impacted by involuntary labor were part of situations where their labor was being forced upon them by private entities. This type of forced labor includes slavery, serfdom, bonded labor, and certain types of begging, where the profits go to someone else. The remaining individuals were subjected to forced labor by governmental institutions, like prison labor. However, this was not included in the ILO study since there was not enough information available.

According to Scott Lyon, a senior policy officer at the ILO, the organization strongly condemns any instances of forced labor imposed by the state, whether that is in prison systems or through the abuse of military conscription or other forms of state and post forced labor.

Although the European Union’s parliament is nearing the implementation of regulations to address forced labor, the international community is far from achieving the United Nations’ objective of eliminating forced labor by 2030.

The Director-General of the International Labor Organization, Gilbert Houngbo, called for global collaboration in addressing the urgent concern.

“People in forced labor are subject to multiple forms of coercion, the deliberate and systematic withholding of wages being amongst the most common,” he said in a statement. “Forced labor perpetuates cycles of poverty and exploitation and strikes at the heart of human dignity.

Houngbo stated that the situation has worsened.

The Associated Press provided certain details for this report.