Today, I want to continue my previous post about the illegal economy. Last week, I touched upon the basics of various criminal industries that are taking place around the world, and today I want to further your knowledge with some additional statistics and data.
Regarding the prostitution trade, the data shows that up to $187 billion is spent on sexual services each year around the world. As previously mentioned, China is number one. In addition, there are several countries where prostitution is not illegal. The places where it is already legal include Germany, Switzerland, and Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
Regarding the black market drugs, the United Nations reported in their World Drug Report that over $300 billion is spent on illegal drugs all over the world. To the surprise of no one, marijuana is the most popular drug in the world, with over $140 billion spent on the drug. 164 million people smoked marijuana at least once during the year reported.
I also previous mentioned that counterfeit goods causes losses of over $250 billion in the United States. Worldwide, the losses are much higher, with estimates placing the losses over $500 to $600 billion losses. Counterfeit drugs alone causes economic damages of $200 billion.
It is clear that there is much at stake in this battle against worldwide crime. Stay tuned and keep coming back as we dive further into these issues.