Modern slavery at record levels in UK and expected to worsen, report warns

Government's anti-slavery commissioner says traffickers are exploiting a growing pipeline of vulnerability

Slavery in the UK is at record levels and is expected to worsen over the next decade, the government's independent anti-slavery commissioner has warned.

According to the number of referrals to the national referral mechanism, which assesses potential victims of slavery and provides support to victims, numbers have almost doubled in the last five years from 12,691 referrals in 2021 to 23,411 in 2025, the highest ever number.