More potential victims of modern slavery and human trafficking were referred to the UK Home Office in 2025 than in any previous year, new figures show.
There were 23,411 potential survivors entered into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) last year – a 22% increase compared to 2024 (19,117). This is also the highest number of annual referrals since the NRM – the UK Government’s formal process for identifying victims of modern slavery and providing them with support – began in 2009.
Simultaneously, there were also more potential victims who declined being entered into the NRM than in any previous year – a sign that there is growing mistrust in the system.
Patrick Proctor, Head of Programmes at Hope for Justice, said: “Again we have seen a huge rise in the number of potential victims of modern slavery in the UK, which highlights the urgent need for a greater focus on safeguarding the survivors of this appalling crime. The UK must scale up efforts to prevent it from happening in the first place. With greater awareness of the problem comes an increase in reporting, but modern slavery is also among the fastest-growing crimes in the world, so the rise is likely to represent a real increase in the number of people who are being exploited.
“With more than 7,000 identified victims declining to enter the NRM, there seems to be increasing distrust of the system. The Government’s hostile rhetoric around deportation is leaving victims fearful. They are scared to enter the system that was created to protect them.”
A total of 7,130 Duty to Notify (DtN) reports were made last year – the highest amount ever made in a single year (up 27% versus 2024). These figures show the number of potential victims of modern slavery who are identified by officials, but who choose not to enter the NRM. Traffickers are known to be using the Government’s threat of deportation as a method of control over their victims, to keep them trapped in exploitation, according to research from the University of Nottingham’s Rights Lab and the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s Office. This, coupled with the fear of disbelief and the lack of trust in authorities, is stopping potential victims from engaging in an NRM referral.
We also know that the NRM figures only reveal a small proportion of the actual number of people who are trapped in modern slavery and exploitation across the UK. This is a ‘hidden’ crime, which often goes underreported.
It is important to highlight that an individual cannot refer themselves into the NRM system; they must be referred by a First Responder. These are authorised agencies such as the police, UK Border Force, Home Office Visas and Immigration, social services, local authorities, and certain NGOs. These designated responders enter people into the NRM because they believe they have been exploited or trafficked.
When an individual chooses to be entered into the NRM by a First Responder, they must await an initial (reasonable grounds) decision on whether the Home Office considers them to be a potential victim. They then await a final (conclusive grounds) decision.
Whilst the Government has made some progress in reducing the backlog of conclusive grounds decisions and speeding up the time it takes to make these decisions so that survivors are not left waiting as long, there continues to be a huge number of victims whose initial and final NRM decisions are overturned when challenged.
In 2025, there were 1,528 reconsideration requests made (865 for reasonable grounds decisions and 663 for conclusive grounds decisions).
When looked at again by the competent authority, 79% of reasonable grounds decisions and 77% of conclusive grounds decisions instead received a positive outcome. Yet whilst survivors await the outcomes of these reconsideration requests, support is often withdrawn and they are left without access to medical support, counselling, and sometimes also their safe house accommodation.
We recently shared this blog with our recommendations to the UK Government as they consider improvements to the NRM: Home Office urged to prioritise safeguarding in NRM process. It also highlights several of the challenges we see with the current NRM system.
Some key statistics from the new NRM data
- 23,411 potential victims of modern slavery were referred to the Home Office in 2025, representing a 22% increase compared to the preceding year (19,117) – the highest number of referrals made in any year since the NRM began.
- UK nationals were the most referred nationality, accounting for 22% (5,110) of all potential victims (compared to 23% in 2024). The second most commonly referred nationality was Eritrean (increasing from 1,701 in 2024 to 3,083 in 2025) and the third was Vietnamese (decreasing from 2,150 in 2024 to 1,998 in 2025).
- 39% of victims said they were exploited exclusively in the UK (increasing from 8,070 in 2024 to 9,081 in 2025). Meanwhile, referrals reporting exploitation exclusively overseas rose from 8,305 to 11,998.
- 2,545 referrals were made for boys (17 and under) reporting criminal exploitation in 2025, an increase of 22% compared to the 2,087 referrals in 2024.
- 2025 saw the highest number of referrals for nationals of the UK, Eritrea and Somalia in any year since the NRM began (referrals for Somali nationals increased from 402 in 2024 to 1,755 in 2025).
- Overall, potential victims were most commonly referred for labour exploitation exclusively, which accounted for 36% (8,406) of all referrals. This was driven by adults (at age of referral), for whom labour exploitation was most commonly reported (45%; 7,341), whereas children were most often referred for criminal exploitation (50%; 3,485).
- The total of 23,587 reasonable grounds decisions and 25,390 conclusive grounds decisions made in 2025 represent the highest number made in a single year since the began; of these, 61% of reasonable grounds and 66% of conclusive grounds decisions were positive.
- In 2025, 79% of reasonable grounds decisions which were reconsidered received a positive outcome and 77% of conclusive grounds decisions which were reconsidered received a positive outcome. These outcomes may result from reconsideration requests made in previous years.
- In 2025, the Home Office received 7,130 reports of adult potential victims via the Duty to Notify (DtN) process, compared to 5,598 in the previous year.
The annual statistics can be found here: Modern slavery: National Referral Mechanism and Duty to Notify statistics UK, end of year summary 2025 – GOV.UK
