Exports exposed

Goods the US Department of Labor lists as produced with child labour in a country, as a share of that country’s exports.

Listed goods as a share of each country’s exports, by good% of total exports
  • Gold
  • Cocoa
  • Coffee
  • Cotton
  • Tobacco
  • Mica
  • Other listed goods

Eight priority goods counted

A lower bound: only cocoa, gold, cobalt ore, mica, raw cotton, coffee, tobacco and sugarcane are counted.

  1. Burkina Faso202488.2%Gold 82.3%, Cotton 5.9%
  2. Mali202473.1%Gold 73.1%
  3. Suriname202467.8%Gold 67.8%
  4. Uganda202461.7%Gold 42%, Coffee 19.3%, Tobacco 0.4%, Other listed goods 0%
  5. Ghana202460.3%Gold 55%, Cocoa 5.2%
  6. Malawi202459.4%Tobacco 59.4%
  7. Zimbabwe202451.8%Gold 34%, Tobacco 17.9%
  8. Tanzania202448.6%Gold 39.3%, Coffee 3.5%, Tobacco 5.8%
  9. Benin202445%Cotton 45%
  10. Nicaragua202425.4%Gold 18%, Coffee 7%, Tobacco 0.4%
  11. Côte d'Ivoire202420.2%Cocoa 19.5%, Coffee 0.7%
  12. Honduras202418.4%Coffee 18.4%
  13. Peru202417.2%Gold 17.2%
  14. Tajikistan202315.8%Cotton 15.8%
  15. Central African Republic202415.7%Gold 15.7%
  16. Colombia202415.4%Gold 8.3%, Coffee 7.2%
  17. Senegal202414.7%Gold 14.7%
  18. Cameroon202312%Gold 0%, Cocoa 12%
  19. Bolivia20247.6%Gold 7.6%
  20. Guatemala20246.2%Coffee 6.2%
  21. Mongolia20234.9%Gold 4.9%
  22. Congo, Democratic Republic of the20244.8%Gold 4.8%. Gold only: the cobalt does not appear under HS 2605.
  23. Kenya20243.9%Gold 0.3%, Coffee 3.6%, Tobacco 0%
  24. Nigeria20243.4%Gold 0.3%, Cocoa 3.1%
  25. Ecuador20243%Gold 3%
  26. Mozambique20242.6%Tobacco 2.6%
  27. Panama20242.6%Coffee 2.6%
  28. El Salvador20242.2%Coffee 2.2%
  29. Philippines20242.1%Gold 1.9%, Tobacco 0.2%
  30. Costa Rica20241.8%Coffee 1.8%
  31. Zambia20241.8%Cotton 0.1%, Tobacco 1.7%
  32. Madagascar20241.2%Mica 1.2%
  33. Vietnam20230.9%Coffee 0.9%, Tobacco 0%
  34. Azerbaijan20240.7%Cotton 0.7%
  35. Kyrgyz Republic20240.6%Cotton 0.5%, Tobacco 0%
  36. Indonesia20240.5%Gold 0.4%, Tobacco 0.1%
  37. Argentina20240.4%Cotton 0.2%, Tobacco 0.2%
  38. Niger20240.4%Gold 0.4%
  39. Dominican Republic20240.3%Coffee 0.3%, Other listed goods 0%
  40. Egypt20240.3%Cotton 0.3%
  41. Lebanon20240.3%Tobacco 0.3%
  42. India20240.2%Cotton 0.2%, Mica 0%
  43. Kazakhstan20240.2%Cotton 0.2%
  44. Turkey20240.2%Cotton 0.2%
  45. Mexico20240.1%Coffee 0.1%, Tobacco 0%
  46. Belize20230%
  47. Burma20240%
  48. Cambodia20240%Tobacco 0%, Other listed goods 0%
  49. Pakistan20240%Cotton 0%
  50. Thailand20240%

Every listed good counted

Brazil and China: not comparable with the rest.

  1. Brazil202413%Coffee 3.4%, Cotton 1.5%, Tobacco 0.8%, Other listed goods 7.2%
  2. China20248%Other listed goods 8%
Listed goods in each country’s exports
CountryYearShare of exports, %Listed goods exported, USDTotal exports, USDGoods countedMain goods, USD
Burkina Faso202488.24,975,329,4065,642,319,697Eight priority goodsGold $4.64bn, Cotton $332.8M
Mali202473.12,641,733,9763,614,209,623Eight priority goodsGold $2.64bn
Suriname202467.81,006,039,0751,484,158,188Eight priority goodsGold $1.01bn
Uganda202461.74,961,014,8738,039,344,376Eight priority goodsGold $3.38bn, Coffee $1.55bn, Tobacco $34.6M
Ghana202460.312,438,945,34420,643,931,879Eight priority goodsGold $11.36bn, Cocoa $1.08bn
Malawi202459.4569,455,475958,496,927Eight priority goodsTobacco $569.5M
Zimbabwe202451.83,852,301,6347,434,439,006Eight priority goodsGold $2.52bn, Tobacco $1.33bn
Tanzania202448.64,233,090,1178,702,027,904Eight priority goodsGold $3.42bn, Tobacco $509.5M, Coffee $304M
Benin202445500,888,4241,112,834,267Eight priority goodsCotton $500.9M
Nicaragua202425.41,912,961,7557,521,851,617Eight priority goodsGold $1.35bn, Coffee $526.2M, Tobacco $32.8M
Côte d'Ivoire202420.24,134,658,37020,500,663,539Eight priority goodsCocoa $3.99bn, Coffee $141.1M
Honduras202418.41,281,766,9836,970,519,872Eight priority goodsCoffee $1.28bn
Peru202417.212,756,325,69474,053,924,516Eight priority goodsGold $12.76bn
Tajikistan202315.8198,567,4601,260,585,220Eight priority goodsCotton $198.6M
Central African Republic202415.732,068,336204,503,822Eight priority goodsGold $32.1M
Colombia202415.47,648,994,81049,556,521,184Eight priority goodsGold $4.1bn, Coffee $3.55bn, Sugarcane $22k
Senegal202414.7930,217,7146,310,482,680Eight priority goodsGold $930.2M
Brazil20241343,707,071,421337,036,275,422Every listed goodBeef $11.66bn, Coffee $11.37bn, Corn $8.18bn
Cameroon202312597,629,5964,967,511,896Eight priority goodsCocoa $597M, Gold $675k
China20248285,490,868,9763,576,543,293,842Every listed goodGarments $153.03bn, Footwear $50.98bn, Toys $39.86bn
Bolivia20247.6686,631,1969,059,167,409Eight priority goodsGold $686.6M
Guatemala20246.2917,254,37414,760,344,790Eight priority goodsCoffee $917.3M
Mongolia20234.9738,016,29015,184,462,711Eight priority goodsGold $738M
Congo, Democratic Republic of the20244.81,793,095,16637,395,099,696Eight priority goodsGold $1.79bn, Cobalt Ore (heterogenite) $20
Kenya20243.9324,838,0688,255,797,030Eight priority goodsCoffee $297.8M, Gold $24.1M, Tobacco $3M
Nigeria20243.41,778,403,23852,361,700,787Eight priority goodsCocoa $1.63bn, Gold $147.3M
Ecuador20243937,632,96531,558,096,621Eight priority goodsGold $937.6M
Mozambique20242.6217,074,7438,211,288,503Eight priority goodsTobacco $217.1M
Panama20242.630,232,0791,158,357,714Eight priority goodsCoffee $30.2M
El Salvador20242.2137,121,6456,311,463,802Eight priority goodsCoffee $137.1M
Philippines20242.11,539,036,06173,268,718,497Eight priority goodsGold $1.37bn, Tobacco $167.9M, Sugarcane $2k
Costa Rica20241.8349,015,97419,882,315,857Eight priority goodsCoffee $349M
Zambia20241.8200,950,02011,275,829,503Eight priority goodsTobacco $186.4M, Cotton $14.6M
Madagascar20241.231,047,7842,557,063,370Eight priority goodsMica $31M
Vietnam20230.93,206,954,369353,077,513,296Eight priority goodsCoffee $3.18bn, Tobacco $19.4M, Sugarcane $3.6M
Azerbaijan20240.7177,119,56526,554,056,765Eight priority goodsCotton $177.1M
Kyrgyz Republic20240.620,752,1063,740,190,511Eight priority goodsCotton $19.5M, Tobacco $1.2M
Indonesia20240.51,289,657,684266,321,970,607Eight priority goodsGold $1.06bn, Tobacco $227.5M
Argentina20240.4334,442,92879,703,206,722Eight priority goodsTobacco $192.3M, Cotton $142.2M
Niger20240.44,161,0631,007,786,657Eight priority goodsGold $4.2M
Dominican Republic20240.341,692,88312,923,945,497Eight priority goodsCoffee $41M, Sugarcane $654k
Egypt20240.3153,034,35244,846,871,351Eight priority goodsCotton $153M
Lebanon20240.312,092,1534,289,601,152Eight priority goodsTobacco $12.1M
India20240.2970,679,454434,435,484,214Eight priority goodsCotton $904M, Mica $65.6M, Cottonseed (hybrid) $748k
Kazakhstan20240.2149,149,67981,612,893,051Eight priority goodsCotton $149.1M
Turkey20240.2478,060,027261,778,130,881Eight priority goodsCotton $478.1M
Mexico20240.1496,747,909619,655,435,118Eight priority goodsCoffee $465.5M, Tobacco $31.2M, Sugarcane $33k
Belize20230101253,837,546Eight priority goodsSugarcane $101
Burma20240543,06714,923,806,108Eight priority goodsSugarcane $543k
Cambodia202404,740,19326,663,959,645Eight priority goodsTobacco $3.2M, Sugarcane $1.5M
Pakistan202403,422,59332,438,495,605Eight priority goodsCotton $3.3M, Sugarcane $118k
Thailand2024021,431300,727,081,694Eight priority goodsSugarcane $21k

What this joins

How it was computed

For each country, the export value of its listed goods among eight priority goods (HS 1801 cocoa, 7108 gold, 2605 cobalt ore, 2525 mica, 5201 raw cotton, 0901 coffee, 2401 tobacco, 121293 sugarcane) is summed; for Brazil and China, every listed good.

The sum is divided by the country’s total exports, from the same query and the same year.

The chart keeps six goods apart and folds every other listed good into one key.

What it does not show

  • The List says child labour is found in producing a good in a country; it does not say a given export was made with child labour. This is exposure, not a count.
  • HS 7108 includes monetary gold; where gold dominates the share can overstate gold mined that year.
  • Outside Brazil and China only eight priority goods are counted, so a share there is a lower bound; Brazil and China count every listed good and are not comparable with the rest.
  • DRC’s cobalt does not appear in HS 2605; its share is gold only.

Read the method note Back to Analysis