WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- The global financial crisis has increased the worldwide trade in trafficked persons , says a State Department report released Tuesday . Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the report aims `` to shine the light brightly on ... modern slavery . '' The State Department 's annual Trafficking in Persons Report also says trafficking has increased in Africa and slaps six African nations on a blacklist of countries not meeting the minimum standard of combating trafficking . The report , mandated by Congress , features data and statistics from 175 countries around the world regarding the amount of human trafficking that goes on within their borders . The report cites the International Labor Organization , which estimates that at least 12.3 million adults and children are victims of forced labor , bonded labor and sex slavery each year . `` This is modern slavery . A crime that spans the globe , providing ruthless employers with endless supply of people to abuse for financial gain , '' Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said as she announced the report . `` With this report , we hope to shine the light brightly on the scope and scale of modern slavery , so all governments can see where progress has been made and where more is needed . '' The report says the global economic crisis is boosting the demand for human trafficking because of a growing demand for cheap goods and services . `` A striking global demand for labor and a growing supply of workers willing to take ever greater risks for economic opportunities seem a recipe for increased forced labor cases of migrant workers and women in prostitution , '' it says . It predicts that the economic crisis will push more businesses underground to avoid taxes and unionized labor , which will increase the use of forced , cheap and child labor by cash-strapped multinational companies . African countries Nigeria and Mauritius are praised in the report for making strong efforts to combat trafficking . But six African nations -- Chad , Eritrea , Mauritania , Niger , Swaziland and Zimbabwe -- were put on the report 's `` Tier 3 '' blacklist of countries whose efforts to combat trafficking are inadequate . Most of the countries are `` source '' and `` destination '' countries , the report says , meaning trafficking victims both come from and are sent there . Most are trafficked throughout Africa , but many end up in the Middle East , it says . Iran , Kuwait , Saudi Arabia and Syria remain on the blacklist for another year , with the report saying they often become a destination for trafficked persons who are sold into domestic servitude . Other repeat offenders on the list include North Korea , Myanmar and Fiji . The State Department also put Malaysia in the Tier 3 list , because of its trafficking of Burmese refugees . The report cites information that Malaysian immigration officials sold refugees to traffickers operating along its border with Thailand . When the victims were unable to pay a ransom demanded by the traffickers , the report says , they were sold for labor and commercial sex exploitation . The blacklisted countries are subject to U.S. sanctions if they do n't make greater efforts to fight trafficking . The Philippines , Cambodia , Bangladesh and Pakistan were added to a `` watch list '' because of what the report calls a worsening trafficking record in those countries . The 52 countries on the watch list have failed to to meet the minimum anti-trafficking standards but are making efforts to do so . For the first time , countries that have been on the watch list for two years -- including China , Russia , India , Sri Lanka and Egypt -- will automatically be moved to the Tier 3 blacklist next year without a presidential waiver if they fail improve their trafficking record , the State Department said . This year , the Justice Department also put out a report on U.S. efforts to combat trafficking efforts at home . In 2008 , the FBI opened 132 trafficking investigations , made 139 arrests and obtained 94 convictions . Clinton invited to Tuesday 's event members of Congress who are active on the issue , as well as global advocates for trafficking victims , in an effort to give the issue a higher profile and shine a spotlight on the need to combat it . Calling for a renewed worldwide partnership between countries and non-governmental organizations to combat trafficking , Clinton said , `` Trafficking thrives in the shadows , and it can be easy to dismiss it as something that happens to someone else , somewhere else . But that 's not the case . `` Trafficking is a crime that involves every nation on Earth , and that includes our own , '' she said , calling trafficking a `` grave problem '' in the United States . For the first time , she said , the United States next year will rank its own efforts at combating trafficking along with the rest of the world . She expressed hope that it will be on the Tier 1 list of countries that are making robust efforts .
State Department report shows higher demand for cheap goods and services . Financial crisis will push more people underground , it says . Six African nations put on sanctions for not doing enough to fight terrorism . ` ` Tier 3 '' list nations are subject to U.S. sanctions .