Friday, Jul 24, 2026 The claims desk. Receipts included. POWERED BY LENZ ↗
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GENERAL

The Claim

In 2021, North Korea had the highest prevalence of modern slavery in the world.

Verified by Lenz ·

The Short Version

The best-supported 2021 estimates place North Korea at the top of the world for modern-slavery prevalence. Walk Free’s Global Slavery Index 2023 explicitly uses 2021 as its reference year and ranks North Korea first, and major news coverage accurately reflects that result. The main caveat is that the estimate is model-based because direct data from North Korea are limited.

Caveats

  • This ranking is an estimate from a modeled index, not a direct headcount measured inside North Korea.
  • Some tertiary or social-media sources repeat the claim without methodology; the strongest support comes from Walk Free’s underlying report and data tables.
  • The claim is about prevalence in 2021, not about total number of people in modern slavery or conditions in later years.

The Receipts

  1. Global Slavery Index

    Walk Free

  2. 1 in 10 North Koreans faces modern slavery, highest prevalence in world: Report

    NK News

  3. Modern slavery most common in North Korea, Eritrea, report says

    Al Jazeera

  4. Global Slavery Index 2023: N. Korea has the globe's highest prevalence of modern slavery

    Daily NK

  5. THE GLOBAL SLAVERY INDEX 2023

    Walk Free

  6. Methodology behind the Global Slavery Index

    Walk Free

  7. Global findings on modern slavery - Global Slavery Index 2023

    Walk Free

  8. Modern slavery in North Korea - Walk Free (GSI Snapshot North Korea 2023)

    Walk Free

  9. THE GLOBAL SLAVERY INDEX 2023

    Walk Free / Hampshire PCC (rehosted PDF)

  10. 50 million people trapped in 'modern slavery' — report

    DW

+ 15 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

Modern SlaveryNorth Korea

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