INTRODUCTION
Organized crime refers to criminal activity carried out by structured groups that operate over extended periods to generate profit through illegal enterprises. These organizations are often involved in activities such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, arms smuggling, extortion, money laundering, cybercrime, and illegal gambling, frequently operating across national borders. Their activities can undermine public safety, weaken institutions, fuel corruption, and impose significant economic costs on governments and businesses. The scale and influence of organized crime vary between countries depending on governance, law enforcement, and economic conditions. This page presents statistics on organized crime, including the world’s largest criminal organizations, organized crime index scores, criminal markets, and the economic impact of serious organized crime.
Statistics
1. Biggest Organized Crime Groups by Revenue (Bar Chart)
2. Organized Crime Index Score for Different Criminal Markets for USA, China and India (Column Chart)
3. Serious Organized Crime Costs in UK by Crime (Pie Chart)
4. Countries with Highest (Worst) Organized Crime Index Scores in 2023 (Bar Chart)
5. 10 Countries with Highest Criminality Score in Europe by Criminal Actors and Criminal Markets Score (Bar Chart)
This chart shows the largest organised crime groups in the world by estimated annual revenue. The Solntsevskaya Bratva from Russia ranks first by a considerable margin, reflecting the enormous scale and reach of Russian organised crime networks. Emerging in the late Soviet and early post-Soviet period, Russian mafia groups expanded rapidly during the economic chaos of the 1990s. They became involved in a wide range of activities including money laundering, cybercrime, extortion, arms trafficking, and financial fraud, often operating across Europe, the Middle East, and North America.
Japan’s Yamaguchi-gumi is the second largest group and one of the most powerful factions of the yakuza, traditionally involved in gambling, construction rackets, and organised fraud. Italy also features prominently through the Camorra and ’Ndrangheta, both of which have built major international drug trafficking networks.
The Sinaloa Cartel from Mexico is another major organisation, with revenues largely driven by the global narcotics trade.
One notable absence is the American Mafia, which once dominated organised crime in the United States but has declined significantly due to decades of strong law enforcement pressure and prosecutions.
This chart compares organised crime activity across different criminal markets in the world’s three most populous countries: the United States, China, and India. While all three countries show significant levels of organised crime, the types of criminal activity differ noticeably between them.
China scores particularly high in environmental crime, especially flora and fauna crimes as well as non-renewable resource crimes. This reflects the scale of illegal wildlife trafficking and environmental exploitation linked to black markets for rare animals, timber, and natural resources. China also scores relatively high in the synthetic drug trade, reflecting the country’s role in the production and export of certain synthetic narcotics.
India shows particularly high levels in human trafficking and cannabis trade, as well as significant activity in non-renewable resource crimes. Illegal mining and trafficking of natural resources are persistent issues in parts of the country.
The United States stands out for higher scores in cocaine trafficking and arms trafficking. The large consumer market for narcotics and the availability of firearms contribute to organised criminal activity in these areas. Overall, the chart highlights how organised crime tends to adapt to different economic opportunities and regulatory environments in each country.
This chart shows the estimated economic cost of serious organised crime in the United Kingdom by type of crime. Importantly, these figures represent costs to the country rather than profits for criminals, including losses to businesses and individuals, enforcement costs, and broader economic damage.
Drug markets account for by far the largest share, at 54.7% of the total cost. The drug trade generates substantial social and economic damage through healthcare costs, policing, criminal justice expenses, and the wider impacts of addiction and drug-related crime.
The second largest category is fraud and financial crime, which makes up 24.2% of the total cost. This includes scams, online fraud, identity theft, and financial manipulation, which have grown significantly with the expansion of digital financial systems.
Smuggling of goods accounts for 12.7%, covering activities such as illicit tobacco, counterfeit products, and other illegal imports that undermine legitimate markets and reduce tax revenues.
Other categories—people smuggling, human trafficking, and intellectual property theft—make up smaller proportions individually but still impose significant social and economic harm. Together, the chart illustrates how organised crime imposes substantial financial burdens on the wider economy, far beyond the direct profits earned by criminal groups.
This chart highlights the countries with the highest organized crime index scores in 2023, reflecting the scale and influence of criminal networks rather than ordinary crime alone. Myanmar ranks first by a considerable margin, largely due to ongoing civil conflict, weak state control, and the growth of illicit activities such as drug production, human trafficking, and online scam operations. Latin America is strongly represented through Colombia, Mexico, and Paraguay, where powerful drug cartels and trafficking networks continue to exert significant influence.
Several African countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, and South Africa, also rank highly, reflecting challenges such as illegal mining, smuggling, corruption, and organized violence. Iraq, Afghanistan, and Lebanon illustrate how political instability and weak institutions can create opportunities for criminal organizations to flourish.
A common theme among these countries is limited state capacity, corruption, armed conflict, or porous borders, all of which enable organized crime to expand. The chart demonstrates that organized crime is a global challenge, but it is most severe where governments struggle to maintain effective law enforcement and the rule of law.
This chart breaks down the two components that make up the Organized Crime Index’s overall criminality score: criminal actors, which measures the strength and influence of organized criminal groups, and criminal markets, which measures the scale of illicit activities such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, arms smuggling, cybercrime, and illegal trade. The overall criminality score is calculated as the average of these two measures.
Russia ranks highest overall and scores very highly on both components, indicating not only extensive illegal markets but also powerful criminal organizations capable of operating domestically and internationally. Ukraine also records high scores in both categories, reflecting the impact of conflict and weakened state control in some regions. Italy and Serbia have particularly high criminal actor scores, reflecting the long-standing influence of groups such as the Mafia and Balkan organized crime networks, although their criminal market scores are comparatively lower.
The differences between the two measures are revealing. Countries such as France have relatively larger criminal markets than criminal actor scores, suggesting widespread illicit activity without the same degree of entrenched criminal organizations. By contrast, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina exhibit particularly strong criminal actor scores, indicating influential organized crime groups despite somewhat smaller overall illegal markets. Together, the two indicators provide a more nuanced picture of organized crime than either measure alone.
OTHER PAGES ABOUT CRIME
Sources:
Fortune 5: The Biggest Organized Crime Groups in the World
Image Credits:
Banner Image (Sketch of the 1901 maxi trial of suspected mafiosi in Palermo) by L’Ora Newspaper