In 2023, the number of labour exploitation victims, according to the US Department of State’s annual trafficking in persons report, rose in the region after a decline in 2022. The data shows that Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina have the highest number of victims: in 2022 the two countries accounted for over 60% of all the recorded labour exploitation victims in the region. According to a study carried out by the MARRI network, in the period 2018-2022 forced begging was the most widespread form of human trafficking for the purpose of labor exploitation (27% of all cases registered in the region).