How Big Is the Drug Trade? — As big as the Slave Trade.
Numbers so large they are difficult to put into perspective …
$159B of which..
The U.S. is the single largest customer base of drugs worldwide.
Estimates for US drug expenditures:[in billions USD]
Cocaine: 28
Heroin: 27
Marijuana: 41
Meth: 13Former Mexican President Porfirio Diaz-“Poor Mexico, so far from God and so close to the United States.” [2]
More: How Big Is the Drug Trade?
click link for a full size version the graphic to the left.
UPDATE: for comparison, see the UN for Human Trafficking
Trafficking in persons is a very lucrative business. This is illustrated by the most recent estimates published this spring by the International Labour Office which suggest that forced labour in the private economy alone generates US$ 150 billion in illegal profits per year. Two thirds of this figure (US$ 99 billion) comes from commercial sexual exploitation, while another US$ 51 billion are a result of forced economic exploitation, including domestic work, agriculture and other economic activities.
For some comparison:
Bill Gates is worth $84B
(Bloomberg Billionaire Index)
United States GDP: 14,417,900,000,000
(World Bank)
Walmart Revenue: $486B
(wiki -rankings of largest companies)
Your income ___________