The Law To Know

Law in Charts · Work and identity

Children aged 7 to 14 who work

What share of children aged 7 to 14 are in employment, in each country?

71 of 71 shown in the list

% of children aged 7 to 14 in employment

  1. Guinea-Bissau63.9% 2014
  2. Cameroon62.0% 2011
  3. Sierra Leone59.2% 2013
  4. Chad55.9% 2015
  5. Burkina Faso50.3% 2010
  6. Malawi48.9% 2015
  7. Niger48.5% 2012
  8. Nicaragua47.7% 2012
  9. Nepal42.8% 2014
  10. Democratic Republic of the Congo41.4% 2014
  11. Kyrgyzstan41.1% 2014
  12. Guinea38.1% 2012
  13. Haiti37.8% 2012
  14. Central African Republic37.2% 2010
  15. Uganda36.7% 2012
  16. Cote d'Ivoire36.5% 2012
  17. Togo35.2% 2014
  18. Nigeria35.1% 2011
  19. Tanzania34.7% 2014
  20. Burundi31.9% 2010
  21. Republic of the Congo31.5% 2012
  22. Sudan30.6% 2014
  23. Mali29.7% 2013
  24. Ghana28.8% 2012
  25. Ethiopia26.1% 2011

Source: Understanding Children's Work, International Labour Organization (ILO); UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), note: Understanding Children's Work; World Bank (WB), note:, Children in employment, total (% of children ages 7-14), via the World Bank. Data for 2010 to 2016. What it counts, how to cite it and the data

At a glance

  • 71 countries or territories have a figure.
  • The highest is Guinea-Bissau at 63.9% (2014) and the lowest is Jordan at 1.2% (2016).
  • The middle value (the median) is 14.5%.

What it counts

Children aged 7 to 14 who are involved in economic activity for at least one hour in the reference week, as compiled by UNICEF, the International Labour Organization and the World Bank.

What it leaves out, and how far to trust a comparison

Most figures come from surveys of different years, which is why every country shows its year, and only countries with a survey appear. The figure includes light work that the law allows as well as work it forbids.

Source

Understanding Children's Work, International Labour Organization (ILO); UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), note: Understanding Children's Work; World Bank (WB), note:: Children in employment, total (% of children ages 7-14), via the World Bank, compiled in World Bank, World Development Indicators. Source licence: CC BY 4.0. Data retrieved 2026-10-23 to 2026-10-25.

Cite this chart

Free to use in teaching, articles, reports and slides, with credit. Our compilation is licensed CC BY 4.0; the source publishes the underlying data under its own licence, shown below.

Reference (APA style)

TheLawToKnow. (2026). Children aged 7 to 14 who work [Chart]. Law in Charts. https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/law-in-charts/children-in-employment. Data: Understanding Children's Work, International Labour Organization (ILO); UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), note: Understanding Children's Work; World Bank (WB), note:, Children in employment, total (% of children ages 7-14), via the World Bank, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.0714.ZS (data retrieved 2026-10-23 to 2026-10-25).

Short credit for slides and websites

Chart: TheLawToKnow, Law in Charts (https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/law-in-charts/children-in-employment). Data: Understanding Children's Work, International Labour Organization (ILO); UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), note: Understanding Children's Work; World Bank (WB), note:, via World Bank, World Development Indicators.

BibTeX

@misc{childreninemployment2026,
  author = {{TheLawToKnow}},
  title = {Children aged 7 to 14 who work},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Law in Charts},
  url = {https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/law-in-charts/children-in-employment},
  note = {Data: Understanding Children's Work, International Labour Organization (ILO); UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), note: Understanding Children's Work; World Bank (WB), note:, Children in employment, total (% of children ages 7-14), via the World Bank, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.0714.ZS. Retrieved 2026-10-23 to 2026-10-25.}
}

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