In 2012 it was estimated that there were between 40 and 42 million prostitutes in the world. The list of countries below provides an estimate for the number of people working as prostitutes in each country. China, India, and the United States are the countries with the most prostitutes in absolute numbers, as indicated in the chart below, although other countries have higher rates of prostitution.
Methodology There are a number of difficulties involved in collecting meaningful prostitution statistics. For example, the greater visibility of some forms of prostitution, such as street prostitution, makes statistics on these forms easier to collect. However, in some countries street prostitution forms a much smaller part of the sex industry than indoor prostitution. Similarly sex workers with health, addiction and other support needs are more likely to be known to the authorities and hence easier for researchers to contact, but may not be representative of prostitution as a whole. National Ugly Mugs, a support organisation for sex workers in the United Kingdom, has identified several factors making it difficult to collect statistics for the sex industry, including low response rates, the small scale of research compared to the size of the sex industry, and the diversity of the industry. As a result published statistics are often conflicting and contested.
In countries where prostitution is illegal, the use of arrest data to create general prostitution statistics can be misleading. The majority of prostitutes are never arrested, and those who are, can often be charged with other offences instead. Class bias may be introduced into the statistics as a result of police officers being more likely to arrest street prostitutes than high-class call girls. In comparing one area with another there may be differences in the definition of a crime, the police enforcement rate, and the possibility of the inflation of arrest figures or the under-reporting of crime.
Due to the unregulated and often illegal nature of the work, only estimates are available for the number of prostitutes in a country. The numbers for a country can vary considerably dependent on the source. Some countries' numbers may suffer from poor methodology. In other cases, results may be influenced by whether the organisation producing the numbers is for or against the nature of the work. Where available, figures are taken from Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS 2016 "Sex Workers: Size Estimates."
+ Numbers of prostitutes Country Number of prostitutesSource: UNAIDS 2016 - 2018Sex Workers: Size Estimates Number of prostitutesOther sources and year Population Prevalence(prostitutes per10,000 population) Afghanistan 12,500 (2016) 34,656,032 4 Albania No data 5,000 – 30,000 (2006) 2,926,348 17 – 103 Algeria No data 40,606,052 - Angola 54,000 (2017) 28,813,463 19 Antigua and Barbuda No data 800 (2014) 100,963 79 Argentina 74,900 (2014) 43,847,430 17 Armenia 9,000 (2018) 2,924,816 30 Australia 20,500 (2012) 20,000 (2017) 24,125,848 8 Austria No data 30,000 (2013) 8,712,137 34 Azerbaijan 13,800 (2018) 9,725,376 14 Bahamas 3,035 (2016) 391,232 78 Bahrain No data 13,500 (2007) 1,425,171 95 Bangladesh 140,000 (2015) 162,951,560 1 Belarus 22,000 (2016) 9,480,042 23 Belgium No data 26,000 (2015) 11,358,379 23 Benin 28,800 (2017) 10,872,298 26 Bhutan 400 – 500 (2017) 797,765 5 – 6 Bolivia 31,000 (2016) 10,887,882 29 Bosnia and Herzegovina 4,000 (2016) 3,516,816 11 Botswana 4,200 (2016) 2,250,260 19 Brazil 1,400,000 (2013) 207,652,865 26 Bulgaria 10,000 (2016) 7,131,494 14 Burkina Faso 31,000 (2016) 18,646,433 17 Burundi 51,000 (2016) 10,524,117 49 Cambodia 34,000 (2016) 15,762,370 22 Cameroon 70,500 (2018) 23,439,189 47 Canada No data 36,289,822 - Cape Verde 1,400 (2016) 539,560 26 Central African Republic 782 (2016) 4,594,621 2 Chad 1,200 (2016) 14,452,543 1 Chile No data 4,980 (2014) 17,909,754 2 – 3 China No data 2,800,000 – 4,500,000 (2010) 1,403,500,365 14 – 32 Colombia 244,400 (2013) 48,653,419 2 Comoros 200 (2016) 795,601 3 Congo 9,700 (2017) 5,125,821 - Costa Rica 3,000 (2017) 15,000 (unknown) 4,857,274 31 Croatia No data 21,066 (2006) 4,213,265 50 Cuba 82,500 (2017) 11,475,982 78 Cyprus No data 1,170,125 - Czech Republic 13,000 (2016) 10,610,947 12 Democratic Republic of the Congo 350,300 (2018) 78,736,153 45 Denmark No data 6,000 (2009) 5,711,870 11 Djibouti 2,900 (2016) 942,333 31 Dominican Republic 97,800 (2015) 10,648,791 56 – 94 East Timor 1,700 (2016) 1,268,671 13 Ecuador 34,400 (2014) 16,385,068 21 Egypt 23,000 (2016) 95,688,681 2 El Salvador 20,000 (2016) 6,344,722 32 Equatorial Guinea 5,800 (2016) 1,221,490 41 Eritrea 1,600 (2016) 4,954,645 3 Estonia 1,000 (2016) 1,312,442 7 Ethiopia 85,000 (2016) 102,403,196 2 Federated States of Micronesia 290 (2016) 104,937 29 Fiji 900 (2014) 898,760 10 Finland No data 4,000 (2009) 5,503,132 7 France No data 30,000 (2018) 64,720,690 5 Gabon 368 (2016) 1,979,786 2 Gambia 3,100 (2016) 2,038,501 15 Georgia 6,500 (2016) 3,925,405 17 Germany No data 300,000 (2009) 81,914,672 37 Ghana 52,000 (2016) 28,206,728 18 Greece No data 10,500 – 15,000 (2009) 11,183,716 9 – 13 Guatemala 83,000 (2019) 16,582,469 16 Guinea 8,400 (2016) 12,395,924 7 Guinea-Bissau 3,100 (2016) 1,815,698 17 Guyana 5,300 (2016) 773,303 69 Haiti 70,300 (2015) 10,847,334 65 Honduras 22,800 (2016) 9,112,867 25 Hungary No data 20,000 – 25,000 (2006) 9,753,281 21 – 26 India 657,800 (2016) 1,324,171,354 5 Indonesia 226,800 (2016) 261,115,456 9 Iran 90,000 (2015) 91,500 (2015) 80,277,428 11 Iraq No data 37,202,572 - Ireland 1,000 (2016) 4,726,078 2 Israel No data 12,000 (2015) 8,191,828 15 Italy No data 60,000 (2009) 59,429,938 10 Ivory Coast 10,900 (2016) 23,695,919 4 Jamaica 18,700 (2014) 2,881,355 66 Japan No data 127,748,513 - Jordan No data 9,455,802 - Kazakhstan 19,000 (2016) 17,987,736 11 Kenya 167,900 (2018) 48,461,567 35 Kiribati 114 (2016) 114,395 10 Kuwait No data 4,052,584 - Kyrgyzstan 7,100 (2016) 5,955,734 12 Laos 13,000 (2016) 6,758,353 19 Latvia No data 29,558 (2006) 1,970,530 150 Lebanon 4,300 (2018) 6,006,668 7 Lesotho 7,500 (2018) 2,203,821 29 Liberia 163,100 (2017) 4,613,823 2 Libya No data 6,293,253 - Lithuania No data 1,000 – 3,000 (unknown) 2,908,249 3 – 10 Luxembourg No data 300 (2009) 575,747 5 Macedonia 3,600 (2016) 2,081,206 17 Madagascar 191,200 (2018) 24,894,551 68 Malawi 9,300 (2016) 18,091,575 5 Malaysia 21,000 (2016) 31,187,265 7 Maldives No data 1,139 (2013) 427,756 27 Mali 36,000 (2016) 17,994,837 20 Marshall Islands 250 (2016) 53,066 47 Mauritania 315 (2016) 4,301,018 1 Mauritius 6,200 (2016) 1,262,132 49 Mexico 240,000 (2019) 127,540,423 19 Moldova 12,000 (2016) 4,059,608 30 Mongolia 1,300 (2016) 3,027,398 4 Morocco 72,000 (2017) 36,276,786 21 Mozambique 27,300 (2012) 28,829,476 5 Myanmar 66,000 (2016) 52,885,223 13 Nepal 67,000 (2016) 28,982,771 23 Namibia 8,100 (2016) 2,479,713 33 Netherlands 25,000 (2011) 16,987,330 15 New Zealand 3,500 (2018) 5,932 (2005) 4,660,833 13 Nicaragua 14,800 (2017) 6,149,928 29 Niger 47,000 (2016) 20,672,987 23 Nigeria 410,000 (2019) 103,500 (2015) 185,989,640 5 North Korea No data 25,000 (2014) 25,368,620 10 Norway No data 3,000 (2009) 5,254,694 6 Oman No data 4,424,762 - Pakistan 228,800 (2016) 193,203,476 12 Palestine No data 4,790,705 - Panama 8,300 (2018) 4,034,119 13 Papua New Guinea No data 8,084,991 - Paraguay 3,400 (2016) 6,725,308 5 Peru 67,000 (2016) 31,773,839 21 Philippines 210,000 (2019) 103,320,222 15 Poland No data 19,000 (unknown) 38,224,410 5 Portugal No data 28,000 (2005)João Saramago, Estrangeiras dominam prazer, Correio da Manhã (17 March 2005) 10,371,627 27 Qatar No data 2,569,804 - Romania No data 158,225 (2006) 19,778,083 80 Russia No data 719,822 (2006) 143,964,513 50 Rwanda 12,000 (2016) 11,917,508 10 Samoa 400 (2016) 195,125 21 São Tomé and Príncipe 89 (2016) 199,910 5 Saudi Arabia No data 32,275,687 - Senegal 21,000 (2016) 15,411,614 14 Serbia 3,900 (2016) 8,820,083 4 Seychelles 586 (2016) 94,228 62 Sierra Leone 240,000 (2013) 7,396,190 325 Singapore No data 5,622,455 - Slovakia No data 21,777 (2006) 5,444,218 40 Slovenia No data 2000-3000 2,077,862 14 Somalia 11,000 (2016) 14,317,996 7 South Africa 24,000 (2018) 56,015,473 4 South Korea No data 50,791,919 - South Sudan 5,000 (2016) 12,230,730 4 Spain 70,300 (2016) 46,347,576 15 Sri Lanka 14,000 (2016) 20,798,492 7 Sudan 212,500 (2016) 39,578,828 53 Suriname 2,200 (2016) 558,368 39 Swaziland 4,000 (2016) 1,343,098 30 Sweden No data 2,500 (2009) 9,837,533 3 Switzerland 20,000 (2011) 8,401,739 24 Syria 25,000 (2011) 18,430,453 14 Taiwan No data 100,000 (2011) 23,556,706 43 Tajikistan 14,000 (2016) 8,734,951 16 Tanzania 160,000 (2016) 55,572,201 29 Thailand 144,000 (2016) 68,863,514 20 Togo 10,000 (2016) 7,606,374 13 Tonga 1,000 (2016) 107,122 93 Tunisia 25,000 (2011) 11,403,248 22 Turkey No data 100,000+ (2016) 79,512,426 13+ Turkmenistan No data 5,663 (2006) 5,662,544 10 Tuvalu 10 (2016) 11,097 9 Trinidad and Tobago 1000 (2016) 1,353,895 7.3 Uganda 130,000 (2019) 41,487,965 - Ukraine 86,600 (2016) 44,438,625 18 United Arab Emirates No data 30,000 (unknown) 9,269,612 32 United Kingdom No data 72,800 (2016) 65,788,574 11 United States No data 1,000,000 – 2,000,000 (2010) 322,179,605 31 Uruguay 8,200 (2016) 3,444,006 24 Uzbekistan 22,000 (2016) 31,446,795 7 Vanuatu 2,000 (2016) 270,402 74 Venezuela No data 473,523 (2006) 31,568,179 150 Vietnam 86,000 (2019) 94,569,072 7 Yemen 54,000 (2016) 27,584,213 20 Zambia 9,300 (2016) 16,591,390 6 Zimbabwe No data 12,383 (2013) 16,150,362 8
Purchase of prostitution Country Lifetime prevalence (men) Brazil 56% (2010) Cambodia 82.5% (2018)Youth paying for sex: What are the associated factors? Findings from a cross-sectional study in Cambodia Chile 23% (2010) China 9.1% (2000)Imbalanced Sex Ratios, Men’s Sexual Behavior, and Risk of Sexually Transmitted Infection in China Croatia 12% (2010) Denmark 13.1% (1992)Interactions between Persons at Risk for AIDS and the General Population in Denmark Ethiopia 5.6% (2016)Prevalence and associated risk factors for men being paid for sex in Ethiopia: a multilevel analysis of 2016 Ethiopian demographic health survey data Germany 26.9% (2019) India 27% (2010) Japan 48.3% (2022)Factors associated with lifetime use of commercial sex work services among Japanese men aged 20–49: findings from a quasi-representative national survey, 2022 Mexico 18% (2010) Norway 12.9% (2002) Poland 13% (2026)Wiadomo, kto w Polsce płaci za seks. Liczby dają do myślenia Russia 23.9% (2014)Correlates of Lifetime History of Purchasing Sex Services by Men in Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast, Russia Rwanda 16% (2010)Evolving Men. Results from the International Men and Gender Equality Survey South Africa 18% (2012)Men, Prostitution and the Provider Role: Understanding the Intersections of Economic Exchange, Sex, Crime and Violence in South Africa South Korea 42.1% (2019)"남성, 42% 성구매 해봤다"… '성매매' 실태, 여성은? Spain 25.4% (2003) Sweden 9.5% (2017)Men Who Pay For Sex: Prevalence and Sexual Health Switzerland 16.7% (2002) Taiwan 19% (2002)Domination and Difference in the Discourses of Taiwanese Piao-ke Thailand 34% (2006)National Sexual Behavior Survey of Thailand 2006 United Kingdom 9% (2024)What does Britain think of sex work and sex workers? United States 9.1% (2012)Survey: Fewer Men Are Paying for Sex
See also Decriminalization of sex work
References