Drain of labour from global South to North
In 2021, the global North exported commodities representing 80 billion hours of labour while importing 906 billion hours from the global South. This resulted in a net drain of 826 billion hours, which is equivalent to the full-time efforts of 369 million workers—more than the combined workforce of the United States and the European Union. Each year, the North consumes approximately twice as much labour as it produces. In 2021, net-appropriated labour accounted for 46% of the North’s total labour consumption, as shown in the figure. The figure also illustrates that the economies of the global North have become increasingly reliant on low-skilled labor, with 71% of it being net-appropriated from the global South in 2021. The drain of 826 billion hours translates to a €16.9 trillion windfall for the global North, more than double the figure in 1995. Between 1995 and 2021, these gains amount to €310 trillion.