Globally, how do you think the businesses of alcohol, gambling, drugs, prostitution, and pornography compare to other lucrative businesses?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

#1 Drugs - According to UNODC (The UN Office on Drugs and Crime), the global market for illicit drugs is worth more than $300 billion annually. If the drug black market were a country, its GNP would rank 21st in the world, after Sweden. Marijuana alone has a market value of $141.8 billion, according to the black-market research organization Havocscope. Add to that a $70 billion cocaine market, a $65 billion market for prescription drugs, and a $28 billion amphetamines market, and you just have the beginning. One can only marvel that governments are missing out on the taxation opportunity.
#2 – Defense
#3 – Prostitution – Those who slip sex workers money for their deeds contribute to a $108 billion market. Enslavement contributes to those high returns: Globally, a single woman sex slave earns her pimp up to $250,000/year. Although prostitution is more common in poor countries and around military bases, rich countries like the United States certainly get their share.
#4 - Oil
#5 - Counterfeits
#6 – Sports
#7 – Gambling – In 2009, gross legal gaming revenues in the United States were about $33 billion. Nevada alone was responsible for more than $10 billion of that. If you add other global gambling centers, such as Macao (which can bring in up to $1.7 billion in one month), Monte Carlo, Estonia, and other legal global casinos raise that amount substantially. Virtual venues also rake in returns. According to the American Gaming Association, Internet gambling revenue for offshore companies was estimated to be $5.9 billion in 2008 from players in the United States and $21.0 billion from players worldwide.
#8 – Banking
#9 – Alcohol - The combined market cap of the world's five biggest alcohol companies is $227 billion. Nearly 200 billion liters of alcohol were sold in 2004; that number has since gone up, thanks in large part to developing countries in Eastern Europe and Asia.
#10 – Pornography - A 2006 estimate has the global porn industry at $97 billion in revenues. Although piracy is eating into the profits of more traditional outlets like paid online subscriptions and DVDs, underpaid porn stars and nearly infinite distribution channels ensure that the industry remains strong. Everyone from Verizon (Smartphone porn) to Marriott (pay-per-porn) profits off the stuff. It is estimated that 28,000 Internet users are watching porn every second. Adult-oriented video games & magazines also diversify porn's income channels. Even though the economies of porn market leaders Great Britain, South Korea, and the United States have slumped, peoples' sex drive hasn't.
#13 Human trafficking (FYI)