The agrifood supply chain recorded the highest number of migrant worker abuses in 2025 compared to other sectors.
More than 200 cases were recorded, accounting for more than 32% of the Migrant Worker Allegations Database from the Business and Human Rights Centre.
The majority (179 out of 237) impacted workers in agriculture and fishing, followed by 52 in food processing and packing, and nine in food distribution and on the shop floor.
Agriculture cases were most commonly reported in the US, Canada and the UK, and most commonly impacted workers from Mexico, the Philippines, Morrocco, Nepal and Guatemala.
These workers most frequently experienced abuse picking fruit and vegetables and farming livestock, including in the supply chains of multinational supermarkets and major restaurant chains.
Meanwhile, 29 cases impacted fishers, most frequently from Indonesia and North Korea, working on Chinese, South Korean and Taiwanese vessels.
Physical violence was also more common here relative to other sectors, which is particularly concerning giving workers’ inability to leave vessels or access remedy, the organisation said.
“These findings come amid escalating global instability,” said Catriona Fraser, migrant workers researcher, Business and Human Rights Centre. “Conflict, climate breakdown and political hostility towards migrants are reshaping migration corridors and increasing vulnerability.
“Across sectors and geographies, migrant workers are being subjected to severe and systemic human rights violations, from widespread wage theft and violence, to conditions of forced labour.”
She added that the abuses are “not isolated failures: they are the result of extractive business models that prioritise profit at the expense of human rights”.
Supermarket abuses
The data also revealed that 14 supermarkets were identified as sourcing produce made under allegedly exploitative conditions in 19 cases, with UK-headquartered supermarkets most frequently linked (17 times).
The organisation predicted that this is likely a significant undercount due to low supply chain transparency, with buyers only named in 10% of cases.
It added that this low transparency and poor supermarket oversight made it harder to hold companies to account. It pointed to an instance when migrants working on Spanish farms supplying to UK supermarkets reported being subjected to poor living conditions. This was not investigated by the supermarkets as they said they had not seen evidence the workers were in their supply chain.
The report outlined that a concentrated buyers’ market enabled large retailers to dictate purchasing practices that exacerbated the risk of abuse.
The organisation called on supermarkets to invest time and resources into reviewing and improving purchasing practices in line with international standards, particularly regarding downward pressures on prices where risks are passed onto workers.
It also said there was a need for companies to improve value chain transparency and oversight including by publicly disclosing suppliers, creating grievance mechanisms and investigating abuses when concerns are raised.
“Companies can tackle these risks by moving beyond tick-box approaches and conducting human rights due diligence that centres the experiences of migrant workers,” said Fraser. “The largest multinationals at the top of global value chains have the power and responsibility to drive this change and ensure just and equitable tech and energy transitions.”
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