Back to Headlines
World Wide
Jun 12, 2026
Analyzed by Llama- 4 Scout 17B 16E Instruct

One in 17 children is working: The industries driving child labour

AI Summary
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) and UNICEF, approximately 138 million children, or one in 17, are engaged in child labour worldwide. Of these, 54 million are in hazardous work that endangers their health and safety. Agriculture remains the largest employer of children, accounting for 61% of all child labour cases.

The Alarming Prevalence of Child Labour

There are approximately 2.4 billion minors around the world who are aged below 18 years. Nearly 138 million of these children – about one in 17 – are engaged in child labour, including 54 million in hazardous work that endangers their health and safety, according to estimates by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and UNICEF.

Children in Hazardous Jobs

In 2015, the United Nations set a goal to end child labour worldwide by 2025. That deadline has now passed. Although the total number of children in child labour has declined, two in five of those children still work in hazardous jobs that often involve heavy physical labour, exposure to toxic chemicals, dangerous machinery, long hours, or unsafe environments.

  • 10.3 million (about 1 in 5) are aged 5-11
  • 12.8 million (about 1 in 4) are aged 12-14
  • 30.8 million (about 4 in 7) are aged 15-17

Child Labour in Different Industries

Agriculture remains the world’s largest employer of children, accounting for 61 percent of all child labour cases. That means roughly 84 million children are working on farms, fisheries, forests and livestock production. Children carry heavy sacks across fields, spray crops with pesticides, descend into mines, work with sharp tools and machinery and spend long hours in extreme heat.

Children in service sector jobs, such as domestic work, retail and hospitality, account for 27 percent of child labour cases, while 13 percent work in industry, including mining, manufacturing and construction.

Child Labour Rates Around the World

Sub-Saharan Africa remains the centre of the crisis, with 87 million children engaged in child labour, more than the rest of the world combined. Population growth, conflict and economic instability have offset many of the gains made in recent years.

While Asia and the Pacific have recorded the sharpest reductions, child labour remains embedded in global supply chains that produce food, clothing, minerals and consumer goods sold around the world.