The number of potential victims of modern slavery reached a record level according to the latest official data.
A total of 4,758 potential victims were referred to the Home Office between July and September.
This is up 10% compared to the previous three months and a rise of 15% on the same quarter in 2023.
The Home Office said the number of referrals for the latest three-month period is the highest since the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) began in 2009.
The previous record was 4,742 referrals between January and March 2023.
To access support and have recognition of their circumstances in the UK, victims of slavery and human trafficking have to be assessed under the NRM.
Almost a quarter (23% or 1,092) of referrals were of UK nationality, with the second most common being Albanian (11%; 523) and Vietnamese (11%; 514).
Some 74% of UK nationals referred into the system were children, while 91% of the Albanian nationals and 81% of Vietnamese nationals referred were adults.
Overall, almost a third of referrals (31% or 1,498) were children, down from 34% in the previous quarter.
A total of 3,254 were adults when they were referred into the system, which was the highest in a quarter since the NRM began.
Almost three-quarters (74% or 2,414) of adult referrals were male and 26% (834) were female, while for children almost eight in 10 (78% or 1,169) referrals were male and 22% (326) were female.
Labour exploitation was the most commonly reported kind of exploitation among adults, but children were most often referred for criminal exploitation.
While males most often reported criminal or labour exploitation, females most often reported sexual exploitation, making up just over a third of (34%) of referrals.
Assessment under the NRM determines whether, on the balance of probabilities, someone has “reasonable grounds” for statutory access to medical, psychological and legal support – meaning they are considered potential victims.
They are then assessed again and, if considered to be a confirmed victim, given a “positive conclusive grounds” decision.
The Home Office said 4,953 reasonable grounds and 5,188 conclusive grounds decisions were issued between July and September.
This was the highest number of conclusive grounds decisions issued for any quarter since the NRM began, representing a 35% increase from the previous record between January and March 2024.
Half (2,500) of reasonable grounds and 52% (2,705) of conclusive grounds decisions were positive, the Home Office said.