The number of potential modern slavery victims in Britain rose to a record last year, official statistics showed on Thursday, highlighting a growing crime that experts say requires the government to undertake urgent policy reforms.

Home Office figures showed there were 19,125 referrals of potential victims into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) — Britain’s system for identifying and protecting victims — in 2024, surpassing the 2023 record of around 17,000.

The crime takes various forms in Britain, where men, women and children can be forced into exploitative work in the drug or sex trades, car washes, nail salons, private homes or the social care sector.

“These statistics are not just numbers, they are individuals with voices, voices that the Government need to listen to,” said Britain’s independent anti-slavery commissioner Eleanor Lyons.