Child Labour

Facts and figures

  • Worldwide 218 million children between 5 and 17 years are in employment.
    Among them, 152 million are victims of child labour; almost half of them, 73 million, work in hazardous child labour.
  • In absolute terms, almost half of child labour (72.1 million) is to be found in Africa; 62.1 million in the Asia and the Pacific; 10.7 million in the Americas; 1.2 million in the Arab States and 5.5 million in Europe and Central Asia.
  • In terms of prevalence, 1 in 5 children in Africa (19.6%) are in child labour, whilst prevalence in other regions is between 3% and 7%: 2.9% in the Arab States (1 in 35 children); 4.1% in Europe and Central Asia (1 in 25); 5.3% in the Americas (1 in 19) and 7.4% in Asia and the Pacific region (1 in 14).
  • Almost half of all 73 million children victims of child labour are aged 5-11 years.
    42 million (28%) are 12-14 years old; and 37 million (24%) are 15-17 years old.
  • Hazardous child labour is most prevalent among the 15-17 years old. Nevertheless up to a fourth of all hazardous child labour (19 million) is done by children less than 12 years old.
  • Among 152 million children in child labour, 88 million are boys and 64 million are girls.
  • 58% of all children in child labour and 62% of all children in hazardous work are boys. Boys appear to face a greater risk of child labour than girls, but this may also be a reflection of an under-reporting of girls’ work, particularly in domestic child labour.
  • Child labour is concentrated primarily in agriculture (71%), which includes fishing, forestry, livestock herding and aquaculture, and comprises both subsistence and commercial farming; 17% in Services; and 12% in the Industrial sector, including mining.
Source: Global Estimates of Child Labour: Results and trends, 2012-2016, Geneva, September 2017.

News

  1. Modern Slavery and Child Labour

    ILO to host Facebook Live Session on 2017 Global Estimates of Modern Slavery and Child Labour

    23 October 2017

  2. News

    Trade unions and producer organizations join forces to tackle child labour in agriculture

    20 October 2017

  3. 10th European Regional Meeting

    Video: What future for decent work in Europe and Central Asia

    02 October 2017

List all

Publications

  1. Global Estimates of Child Labour: Results and trends, 2012-2016

  2. Georgia National Child Labour Survey 2015 - Analytical Report

  3. Moving towards a child labour free Jordan – A collection of emerging good practices

  4. Tanzania national child labour survey 2014: Analytical Report

Events

  1. IV Global Conference on the Sustained Eradication of Child Labour

    14 - 16 November 2017

  2. Facebook Live on 2017 Global Estimates of Modern Slavery and Child Labour

    24 October 2017

  3. Forum on Tackling child labour in supply chains

    5 - 6 October 2017

Good practices

Videos on child labour

A mobile application against child labour

  1. Eliminating and preventing child labour: Checkpoints for Companies

    This app allows business managers and auditors to create interactive checklists that will help them ensure a child labour-free operation. There are 18 checkpoints in total, divided into six categories. Each checkpoint provides best-practice recommendations for taking action.

Videos on child labour