World's Largest Black Markets

Check out the world's largest black markets.



It's difficult to pin down numbers when it comes to how much money is exchanged around the world on the black market, but there are some estimates.

To arrive at a figure of how much money is made on illicit drugs for instance, researchers take the quantity of drugs seized at an entry point and multiply that by how much the drug's street value would be in the place where they are assumed to be heading.

Based on the latest estimates on select markets, drugs are the number one item traded on the black market with around 320 billion dollars tied up in drug trafficking, while counterfeit and pirated goods came in second with about 250 billion.

Human and wildlife trafficking along with illicit oil trade, and other environmental black markets like fishing and logging also made the list.

Another estimate of global black market exchanges known as the Havocscope Illicit Trade Value stands at a figure of 1 point 79 trillion dollars.