Britain extracted 25 million years of life and labour through slavery in Barbados: Report

A report presented in Barbados states that the British colonial practices drained nearly 25 million years of life and forced work from enslaved Africans. Value lost through such extraction may reach £1.6 trillion, as researchers seek to quantify historical harm.

The research is based on tools like economic modelling, demographic data, and historical records to measure the depth of exploitation across over 2 centuries of ownership-based bondage. A report from The Guardian point toward economist Coleman Bazelon, leading the research through Public Interest Experts, a non-profit organisation. Coverage from The Guardian relies on court-level evidence, expert commentary, and the official statements presented during the study’s release.Researchers estimate that unpaid labour by enslaved people in Barbados created wealth worth £400 billion to £560 billion. Additional loss due to shorter lives adds another £900 billion up to £1.05 trillion. Bazelon pointed out that these numbers show damage beyond just lost wages. The report aims less at setting a price tag and more at shaping understanding. “This research is not creating an invoice for anybody to pay,” said Bazelon.

“It is an accounting of the harm that was done … a recognition of the harm that was done that is the starting point for reconciliation.”It is noted in the document that approximately 379,000 Africans reached Barbados, while during the sea journey, close to 78,000 individuals lost their lives. From studies, around 335,000 more entered slavery through birth on the island. These figures contribute to the calculation of total life years and labour extracted under British rule. From the 1700s, Barbados stood at the heart of British colonial expansion through large-scale farming settlements. The island now forms part of the Caribbean Community, an alliance backing demands for historical redress. The report builds on earlier research, including a 2023 evaluation by Brattle focusing on forced labour systems throughout American and Caribbean territories. Back then, in 1834, Britain gave £20m to slaveholders for abolition, while the enslaved got no compensation.

Professor Alan Lester at the University of Sussex stated that this decision deepened inequality. That imbalance had lasting effects; wealth gaps widened over time. Even after independence, Caribbean nations faced limited capital and rising debt.Trevor Prescod, Barbados’s minister for Pan-African affairs and heritage, stated that the report will eventually go to the cabinet for ratification. “I feel the public must walk with us to our destination … Many areas of progress that we were denied will be at the heart of our call and claims for reparations and reparatory justice,” he said.Still, international debate continues. Though the UN General Assembly recently classified chattel slavery as a severe atrocity, some nations chose not to support the motion. Compensation through direct financial transfers is off the table under British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s stance, which shifts attention towards dialogue and alternative forms of redress.Some advocacy organisations, including Heirs of Slavery, demand recognition of historical responsibility.