Portugal reported 410 victims of trafficking in 2023, marking an increase of 164 from the previous year and 210 from 2021, with 339 victims trafficked for forced labor.

This figure translates to 24 victims per million inhabitants in the EU, with a significant 63.3% being women or girls.

Among the identified victims, 43.8% were sexually exploited, while 36.9% were forced to work, and 20.2% were trafficked for organ removal or other purposes.

In terms of victim rates, Luxembourg had the highest at 157 per million citizens, followed by Greece (51), the Netherlands (49), and Portugal (39), while Croatia, Lithuania, and the Czech Republic had the lowest rates at 5 and 2, respectively.

In 2023, the European Union identified a record 10,793 victims of human trafficking, the highest number since 2008.

Eurostat also noted that the rise in victim identification is linked to better judicial and social systems in some countries.

The number of identified traffickers rose by 5% from 8,064 in 2022 to 8,471 in 2023, with convictions increasing by about 10% from 2,097 to 2,309.

Among traffickers, women represented a smaller percentage compared to men, with 24.2% of suspects being female in 2023.

Notably, 64.1% of the victims were from non-EU countries, 28% were nationals of the country where they were identified, and 7.9% were from other EU nations.

The increase in trafficking cases was observed in 14 of the 27 EU countries, which may indicate improved identification efforts rather than a deterioration of the situation, according to Eurostat.

In 2024, Portugal experienced a decrease to 355 human trafficking cases, primarily related to labor exploitation, with 159 cases noted mainly in the agriculture and construction sectors.