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Child Labor by Country 2024
Child labor is a controversial practice and is often illegal in many countries. It involves using children between the ages of 5 and 17 years old who are used for labor in a commercial or business setting. However, just because it is frowned upon, that doesn't mean that it isn't still a popular practice around the globe. In this article, we will take a closer look at which countries still rely heavily on child labor and how the numbers stack up among one another.
The majority of the countries that still participate in child labor practices are located in either Africa or South America. At least 47 countries, including Ethiopia, Cameroon, Chad, Togo, Madagascar, Laos, Zambia, Nepal, Ivory Coast, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Sudan, Fiji, Peru, Honduras, Mongolia, Bolivia, Samoa, Afghanistan, Mali, and Cambodia still use child labor regularly.
The country that uses child labor the most in the world is South Sudan, with a score of 48 (percentage of children who have ever engaged in child labor), with 50% of male and 47% of female children involved.
The country with the second highest number of child laborers is Ethiopia. The country has a rating of 45 with males outpacing females 51 to 39. The next country on the list is Burkina Faso. The country has a score of 42. Here, the ratio of female to male child labor workers is a little more split, with males just outpacing females 43 to 40.
Cameroon and Chad share the next place on the list with a score of 39 each. They are also nearly evenly split between males and females with scores of 40:38 and 39:40, respectively. Madagascar is next on the list with a score of 37, which is divided into a ratio of 35 females to 38 males. Haiti follows that score with 36. In Haiti, the number of child labor workers skews drastically in the male direction with a ratio of 44 males to 26 females.
There are also several countries that have very low child labor numbers. Barbados and Saint Lucia share a score of 1. Brazil, Argentina, Panama, Georgia, Tunisia, Jordan, and Palestine all have ratings of just 2. Several countries have a rating of 3 when it comes to child labor workers, including Belize, North Macedonia, Jamaica, Albania, and Algeria.
Egypt, Philippines, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, North Korea, Dominican Republic, Belarus, Costa Rica, Armenia, and Bhutan all have child labor rates of 4. Turkmenistan, even though the practice is legal in the country, currently has a score of only 5%.
- The data on child labor are presented as percentages covering two distinct time periods: 2015-2023 and 2014-2022.
- Data shown indicate the percentages of children 5–17 years old who met any of the following conditions at the time of the survey:
- (a) children 05–11 years old who, during the reference week, did at least one hour of economic activity (i.e.: paid labor at any wage) and/or more than 21 hours of unpaid household services
- (b) children 12–14 years old who, during the reference week, did at least 14 hours of economic activity and/or more than 21 hours of unpaid household services
- (c) children 15–17 years old who, during the reference week, did at least 43 hours of economic activity.
Country | Total Child Labor 2015-2023 (%) | Male Labor 2015-2023 (%) | Female Labor 2015-2023 (%) | Child Labor Data Source 2015-2023 | Total Child Labor 2014-2022 (%) | Male Labor 2014-2022 (%) | Female Labor 2014-2022 (%) | Child Labor Data Source 2014-2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | 0% | 0% | 0% | - | - | - | - | |
| South Sudan | 48% | 50% | 47% | MICS 2010, UNICEF and ILO calculations | - | - | - | |
| Ethiopia | 45% | 51% | 39% | National CLS 2015, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 45% | 51% | 39% | National CLS 2015, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Burkina Faso | 42% | 43% | 40% | DHS 2021, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 42% | 44% | 40% | DHS 2010, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Cameroon | 39% | 40% | 38% | MICS 2014, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 39% | 40% | 38% | MICS 2014, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Chad | 39% | 39% | 40% | MICS 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 39% | 39% | 40% | MICS 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Madagascar | 37% | 38% | 35% | MICS 2018, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 37% | 38% | 35% | MICS 2018, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Haiti | 36% | 44% | 26% | DHS 2012, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 36% | 44% | 26% | DHS 2012, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Niger | 34% | 34% | 35% | DHS 2012, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 34% | 34% | 34% | DHS 2012, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Nigeria | 32% | 33% | 30% | MICS 2021 | 31% | 33% | 30% | MICS 2021 |
| Burundi | 31% | 30% | 32% | DHS 2016-17, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 31% | 30% | 32% | DHS 2016-17, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Zambia | 30% | 28% | 32% | Labour Force Survey 2014, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 23% | 23% | 23% | Labour Force and CLS 2012, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Zimbabwe | 30% | 28% | 32% | MICS 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 28% | 33% | 22% | MICS 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Togo | 29% | 29% | 29% | MICS 2017, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 39% | 38% | 39% | MICS 2017, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Uganda | 28% | 28% | 27% | DHS 2016, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 18% | 17% | 19% | National LFS 2016-17, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Somalia | 28% | 29% | 27% | MICS 2019-20, UNICEF and ILO calculations | - | - | - | |
| Laos | 28% | 27% | 29% | MICS 2017, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 28% | 27% | 29% | MICS 2017, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Liberia | 28% | 26% | 29% | DHS 2019-20, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 32% | 29% | 34% | DHS 2019-20, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Yemen | 27% | 28% | 26% | DHS 2013, UNICEF and ILO calculations | - | - | - | |
| Central African Republic | 27% | 25% | 29% | MICS 2018-19, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 27% | 25% | 29% | MICS 2018-19, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Sierra Leone | 26% | 25% | 27% | DHS 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 25% | 26% | 25% | MICS 2017, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Sudan | 24% | 26% | 23% | MICS 2014, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 18% | 20% | 16% | MICS 2014, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Guinea | 24% | 24% | 25% | MICS 2016, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 24% | 24% | 25% | MICS 2016, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Mali | 23% | 23% | 23% | EMOP 2020, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 13% | 15% | 12% | Enquête Modulaire et Permanente auprès des Ménages 2017, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Nepal | 22% | 20% | 23% | MICS 2014, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 22% | 20% | 23% | MICS 2014, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Kyrgyzstan | 22% | 25% | 19% | MICS 2018, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 22% | 25% | 19% | MICS 2018, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Tanzania | 21% | 20% | 22% | Tanzania Child Labour Survey 2014, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 25% | 26% | 24% | Integrated LFS-CLS 2014, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Ghana | 20% | 19% | 22% | MICS 2017-18, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 20% | 19% | 22% | MICS 2017-18, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Afghanistan | 19% | 20% | 19% | MICS 2022-23, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 13% | 14% | 12% | IELFS 2020, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Angola | 19% | 17% | 20% | DHS 2015-16, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 19% | 17% | 20% | DHS 2015-16, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Senegal | 19% | 19% | 19% | MICS 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 23% | 27% | 19% | DHS 2015-16, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Paraguay | 18% | 20% | 13% | MICS 2016, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 18% | 20% | 13% | MICS 2016, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Gambia | 17% | 17% | 17% | MICS 2018, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 17% | 17% | 17% | MICS 2018, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Guinea Bissau | 17% | 18% | 16% | MICS 2018-19, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 17% | 18% | 16% | MICS 2018-19, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Fiji | 17% | 20% | 14% | MICS 2021 | 17% | 20% | 13% | MICS 2021 |
| Sao Tome and Principe | 17% | 18% | 16% | MICS 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 11% | 9% | 12% | MICS 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Kiribati | 17% | 19% | 15% | MICS 2018-19, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 17% | 19% | 15% | MICS 2018-19, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Vanuatu | 16% | 16% | 15% | MICS 2021 | 16% | 15% | 16% | DHS 2013, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| DR Congo | 15% | 13% | 17% | MICS 2017-18, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 15% | 13% | 17% | MICS 2017-18, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Peru | 15% | 14% | 15% | CLS (Encuesta Trabajo Infantil) 2015, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 15% | 14% | 15% | CLS (Encuesta Trabajo Infantil) 2015, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Ivory Coast | 15% | 14% | 16% | DHS 2021, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 22% | 22% | 23% | MICS 2016, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Honduras | 15% | 18% | 13% | MICS 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 15% | 18% | 13% | MICS 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Mongolia | 15% | 16% | 13% | MICS 2018, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 15% | 16% | 13% | MICS 2018, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Malawi | 14% | 14% | 14% | MICS 2019-20, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 14% | 14% | 14% | MICS 2019-20, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Rwanda | 14% | 14% | 15% | DHS 2014-15, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 19% | 17% | 21% | Integrated Household LCS 2013-14, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Bolivia | 14% | 14% | 13% | ENNA 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 14% | 14% | 13% | ENNA 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Republic of the Congo | 14% | 13% | 15% | MICS 2014-15, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 14% | 13% | 15% | MICS 2014-15, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Lesotho | 14% | 15% | 13% | MICS 2018, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 14% | 15% | 13% | MICS 2018, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Eswatini | 14% | 13% | 14% | MICS 2021-22, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 8% | 8% | 7% | MICS 2010, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Cambodia | 13% | 12% | 14% | LFS 2012, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 13% | 12% | 14% | LFS 2012, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Gabon | 12% | 13% | 11% | DHS 2019-21, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 19% | 20% | 17% | DHS 2012, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Suriname | 12% | 12% | 11% | MICS 2018, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 4% | 5% | 4% | MICS 2018, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Pakistan | 11% | 13% | 10% | LFS 2017-18, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 11% | 13% | 10% | LFS 2017-18, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Solomon Islands | 11% | 11% | 10% | MICS 2021 | 18% | 17% | 19% | DHS 2015, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Vietnam | 10% | 12% | 8% | MICS 2014, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 7% | 6% | 8% | MICS 2020-21, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Myanmar | 10% | 10% | 10% | LFS 2015, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 10% | 10% | 10% | LFS 2015, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Comoros | 9% | 9% | 10% | MICS 2022, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 28% | 25% | 32% | DHS 2012, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Syria | 8% | 9% | 7% | MICS 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations | - | - | - | |
| Montenegro | 8% | 9% | 7% | MICS 2018, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 8% | 9% | 7% | MICS 2018, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Bangladesh | 7% | 9% | 5% | MICS 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 7% | 9% | 5% | MICS 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Colombia | 7% | 5% | 10% | GEIH 2022, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 7% | 7% | 7% | GEIH 2020, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| El Salvador | 7% | 7% | 7% | Encuesta de Hogares de Propósitos Múltiples (EHPM) 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 7% | 6% | 7% | Encuesta de Hogares de Propósitos Múltiples (EHPM) 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Chile | 6% | 7% | 5% | Youth Activity Survey (Encuesta de Actividades de Nino, Ninas y Adolescentes) 2012, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 6% | 7% | 5% | Youth Activity Survey (Encuesta de Actividades de Nino, Ninas y Adolescentes) 2012, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Guyana | 6% | 7% | 6% | MICS 2019-20, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 11% | 10% | 12% | MICS 2014, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Mexico | 5% | 6% | 3% | ENTI 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 5% | 6% | 3% | ENTI 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Iraq | 5% | 5% | 4% | MICS 2018, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 5% | 5% | 4% | MICS 2018, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Turkmenistan | 5% | 6% | 5% | MICS 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations | - | - | - | MICS 2015-16, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Serbia | 5% | 6% | 4% | MICS 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 10% | 11% | 8% | MICS 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Egypt | 4% | 4% | 3% | EFHS 2021, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 5% | 6% | 4% | DHS 2014, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Philippines | 4% | 4% | 4% | LFS 2021-22, UNICEF and ILO calculations | - | - | - | |
| Ukraine | 4% | 5% | 4% | MICS 2012, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 3% | 3% | 3% | MICS 2012, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Uzbekistan | 4% | 4% | 3% | MICS 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 21% | 23% | 18% | MICS 2021-22 |
| North Korea | 4% | 5% | 4% | MICS 2017, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 4% | 5% | 4% | MICS 2017, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Dominican Republic | 4% | 5% | 3% | MICS 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 4% | 5% | 3% | MICS 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Belarus | 4% | 5% | 3% | MICS 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 4% | 5% | 3% | MICS 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Costa Rica | 4% | 4% | 3% | MICS 2018, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 4% | 4% | 3% | MICS 2018, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Armenia | 4% | 5% | 3% | CLS 2015, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 4% | 5% | 3% | CLS 2015, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Bhutan | 4% | 3% | 4% | MICS 2010, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 4% | 3% | 4% | MICS 2010, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Algeria | 3% | 3% | 2% | MICS 2018-19, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 3% | 3% | 2% | MICS 2018-19, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Jamaica | 3% | 3% | 2% | Jamaica Youth Activity Survey 2016, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 3% | 3% | 2% | Jamaica Youth Activity Survey 2016, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Albania | 3% | 4% | 3% | CLS 2010, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 3% | 4% | 3% | CLS 2010, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| North Macedonia | 3% | 4% | 2% | MICS 2018-19, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 3% | 4% | 2% | MICS 2018-19, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Belize | 3% | 4% | 3% | CAS 2013, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 3% | 4% | 3% | CAS 2013, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Brazil | 2% | 2% | 1% | PNADCCL 2016, ILO Harmonized Microdata | 5% | 5% | 5% | National Household Sample Survey (Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicilios) 2015, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Argentina | 2% | 2% | 2% | EANNA 2016-17, UNICEF and ILO calculations | - | - | - | |
| Tunisia | 2% | 2% | 1% | MICS 2018, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 2% | 3% | 1% | MICS 2011-12, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Jordan | 2% | 2% | 1% | CLS 2016, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 2% | 2% | 1% | CLS 2016, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Palestine | 2% | 2% | 1% | Labour Force Survey 2021, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 7% | 10% | 5% | MICS 2019-20, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Panama | 2% | 3% | 1% | Encuesta Trabajo Infantil (ETI) 2016, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 2% | 3% | 1% | Encuesta Trabajo Infantil (ETI) 2016, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Georgia | 2% | 2% | 1% | CLS 2015, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 2% | 2% | 1% | CLS 2015, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Barbados | 1% | 2% | 1% | MICS 2012, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 1% | 2% | 1% | MICS 2012, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Saint Lucia | 1% | 1% | 1% | MICS 2012, UNICEF and ILO calculations | 3% | 5% | 2% | MICS 2012, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
| Turkey | - | - | - | 4% | 4% | 4% | CLFS 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations | |
| South Africa | - | - | - | 4% | 4% | 3% | Survey of Activities of Young People 2015, UNICEF and ILO calculations | |
| Sri Lanka | - | - | - | 1% | 1% | 1% | CAS 2016, UNICEF and ILO calculations | |
| Benin | - | - | - | 25% | 24% | 26% | DHS 2017-18, UNICEF and ILO calculations | |
| Mauritania | - | - | - | 14% | 15% | 13% | MICS 2015, UNICEF and ILO calculations | |
| Uruguay | - | - | - | 4% | 5% | 3% | CLS (Encuesta Nacional de Trabajo Infantil) 2010, UNICEF and ILO calculations | |
| Trinidad and Tobago | - | - | - | 1% | 1% | 1% | MICS 2011, UNICEF and ILO calculations | |
| Timor Leste | - | - | - | 9% | 9% | 10% | National Child Labour and Forced Labour Survey 2016, UNICEF and ILO calculations | |
| Samoa | - | - | - | 14% | 16% | 11% | MICS 2019-20, UNICEF and ILO calculations | |
| Tonga | - | - | - | 26% | 33% | 19% | MICS 2019, UNICEF and ILO calculations | |
| Turks and Caicos Islands | - | - | - | 6% | 9% | 3% | MICS 2019-20, UNICEF and ILO calculations | |
| Tuvalu | - | - | - | 4% | 3% | 5% | MICS 2019-20, UNICEF and ILO calculations |
Which countries still have child labor?
Child labor remains prevalent in many countries today. Those with the highest percentages are: China, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and Cameroon