IWT is often considered to be a low-risk, high-reward crime attractive to legitimate wildlife traders, opportunists and organised crime groups, including transnational organised criminal networks. 

Estimates of the value of wildlife and other environmental crimes range from the low billions to more than a trillion dollars. Including losses to ecosystem services, the World Bank estimates the annual cost of environmental crime at USD 1–2 trillion. 

Wildlife crime alone costs the world economy more than USD 200 billion per year.

Wildlife and environmental crimes have annual costs of USD 1–2 trillionAs with any illegal activity, exact figures are hard to pin down. However, illegal wildlife trade is said to be the fourth largest illicit trade globally after weapons, drugs and human trafficking. And it is growing – according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), illegal profits from environment crime are expected to increase at 5–7 percent each year as criminal groups expand the scope and scale of their activities.