Chapter 15: The World of Black Gold
Blood Fox wasn't very thorough, but Mountain Eagle had already pieced together an outline of the Underworld.
Money is the foundation of everything, and according to data released by the United Nations and the IMF (World Bank), the global flow of Black Money is about 2~3% of the global Gross Domestic Product each year.
The global GDP in 2014 was 80 trillion US Dollars, so taking the lowest estimate, the GDP of the Underworld this year should also be around 1.6 trillion.
This is just the data reported by the United Nations and the IMF; actual figures may be higher since much of the Black Money formed by high-end corruption and tax evasion is concealed under the guise of legitimate transactions.
If we really calculate it, 1.6 trillion US Dollars doubled would be more accurate!
In the past, he had seen a related report and didn't pay much attention then, viewing it merely as tabloid news.
But now that he is really entering this world, he realizes its terrifying nature!
A specialized agency of the United Nations has issued a report on Black Money, stating that globally, in the last year, 2013, money from drug trafficking amounted to about 500 billion US Dollars.
The second largest source of Black Money is human trafficking and smuggling, roughly at 160 billion US Dollars.
The third, unexpectedly to many, is not the so-called arms trade but illegal logging.
The global illegal logging of trees generates nearly 150 billion US Dollars in Black Money each year, while the total amount of legal logging last year was only 450 billion US Dollars.