If the black market were a sovereign nation, it would be the world’s 2nd largest economic superpower. There is enough illegal oil bunkered daily in Nigeria to drive a car around the entire planet 3.7 million times. Illegal gambling in Asia nets $500 billion, while the worldwide legal gambling nets $335 billion. Together, that’s more than the U.S. spends on education each year.

While the global economy heads for the gutter, worldwide black markets grow at incredible rates. From drug and firearms dealers to street vendors and self-made taxi drivers, the individual black markets net far higher prices than many countries. The average black market is worth $21 billion, which is higher than the GDP of 40% of the world’s countries.

The economy isn’t the only thing suffering from the success of black markets. In Africa, enough malaria and tuberculosis deaths occur from bogus pharmaceuticals to fill 14,000 school busses. In 2007, Colombia had enough potential cocaine production capacity to contaminate 220 million plastic bottles worth of water a year, and to create enough waste to stuff 488 garbage bags a day. And that’s just in one country.

With struggling economies worldwide, half of the world’s working population is employed in shadowy black market industries. These individuals enjoy high profits completely free of regulation, and experience representation without taxation as the rest of us cover their public service costs. Check out the infographic below.

Created by: BusinessDegree.net