While the largest number of child laborers aged 5-14 years are in Asia, the percent of children less than age 15 years who are working is highest in Sub-Saharan Africa.

	Boy doing Zari (Gold Embroidery), India Photo: © Global March

Geographic distribution
No country is immune. Asia-Pacific region harbors the largest number of child laborers aged 5-14 years (127.3 million), followed by Sub-Saharan Africa (48 million), and Latin America & the Caribbean (17.4 million). There are 13.4 million child workers in the Middle East and North Africa. Developed countries and transition countries have the lowest numbers of child laborers (about 2.4 million).⁵














The figures indicate the number of child workers in each region.

In terms of the percent of children less than 15 years old who are working, Sub-Saharan Africa comes first. No other region has such a high child work ratio. Almost 1 child in 3 below age 15 (29 percent) is economically active, or works, in Sub-Saharan Africa. The child work ratios in other major world regions are all below 20 percent. In Asia-Pacific the incidence is 19 percent. In Latin American & the Caribbean and the Middle East & North Africa, the incidence is 16 and 15 percent, respectively. The incidence of child labor is lowest (2 percent) in developed countries.⁶

---

⁵ Every Child Counts: New Global Estimates on Child Labor, International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, International Labor Organization, Geneva, April 2002, p. 16, available from http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/simpoc/others/globalest.pdf; Internet accessed February 2005.
⁶ Every Child Counts: New Global Estimates on Child Labor, International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, International Labor Organization, Geneva, April 2002, p. 16-17, available from http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/simpoc/others/globalest.pdf; Internet accessed February 2005.