Market Data: 2009 January


Prostitution in Bulgaria

Filed under: Europe, Prostitution

The illegal sex trade in Bulgaria generates $1.3 Billion (1 Billion Euros) a year.

Source:  Stefan Nikolov, “The Sex Industry in Bulgaria Generates 1 Billion Euro Income,” News.bg, September 17, 2008.

Counterfeit cell phone production in China

Over 100 million counterfeit cell phones are produced in China each year, costing the central government up to $2.5 Billion in lost taxes.

Source:  “Counterfeit goods find favor in China / Public likens pirated brands manufacturers to bandits of yore,” Daily Yominuri, January 27, 2009.

95 percent of all music downloads pirated in 2008

According to the International Federation of Phonographic Industry (IFPI), 95 percent of all music downloads in 2008 were pirated.

Source: “IFPI publishes Digital Music Report 2009,” IFPI, Digital Music Report 2009, January 16, 2009.

Up to 90 percent of pills sold on Interent could be fake

Viagra maker Pfizer published a study warning that “up to 90% of all medicines sold on the Internet are thought to be fake.”

Source:  Grace Wong, “Fighting the growing menace of fake drugs,” CNN, January 13, 2009.

14,000 kidneys transplanted from black market each year

Filed under: Humans

According to the World Health Organization, one-fifth of the 70,000 kidney transplants that occur each year are using kidneys taken from the black market.

Source:  Jeneen Interlandi, “Not Just Urban Legend,” Newsweek,  January 10, 2009.

Estimated 8 million counterfeit drugs entered UK in 2008

An estimated 8 million counterfeit drugs are believed to have entered the medicine supply in the United Kingdom in 2008.

Source:  Mark Townsend, “Health fears grow as fake drugs flood into Britain,” Guardian, January 4, 2009.

$100,000 to be a police chief in corrupt Afghanistan

Filed under: Asia, Financial Crime

The New York Times reported that corruption is rife in Afghanistan, stating that if a person wanted to become a provincial police chief, all the needed was $100,000 to pay in bribes.

Source:  Dexter Filkins, “Afghan corruption: Everything for sale,” New York Times, January 2, 2009.

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