The measurement gap

Of the 17 countries where 20% or more of children are in child labour, 10 are known only from a survey five or more years old.

Countries by the age of their latest national child-labour survey, in 2026countries
  • Latest national survey
  • No national survey
  1. Under 5 years51
  2. 5 to 9 years36
  3. 10 years or more13
  4. No national survey112
  • 100 of the 212 countries in the record have a national survey reading.
Countries where 20% or more of children are in child labour, known only from a survey five or more years old% of children aged 5–17
  1. Cameroonsurvey 201433.4%
  2. Sierra Leonesurvey 201721%
  3. Chadsurvey 201930.9%
  4. Tongasurvey 201925.9%
  5. Zimbabwesurvey 201925.6%
  6. Burundisurvey 202053.5%
  7. Liberiasurvey 202021.1%
  8. Malisurvey 202021%
  9. Malawisurvey 202024.1%
  10. Ugandasurvey 202140.1%
Countries where 20% or more of children are in child labour, with a survey five or more years old
CountrySurvey yearSurvey age in 2026, yearsChild labour, % of children
Cameroon20141233.4
Sierra Leone2017921
Chad2019730.9
Tonga2019725.9
Zimbabwe2019725.6
Burundi2020653.5
Liberia2020621.1
Mali2020621
Malawi2020624.1
Uganda2021540.1
Survey age
Age of the latest national surveyCountries
Under 5 years51
5 to 9 years36
10 years or more13
No national survey112

What this joins

How it was computed

Each surveyed country’s latest national survey year is taken from the UNICEF and ILO prevalence readings, and its age counted to 2026.

The countries where 20% or more of children are in child labour are listed with the year of their survey.

The 2025 cancellations of ILAB grants and ILAB’s grants line are cited with their date and publisher.

What it does not show

  • An old survey is not a wrong one; it is a reading whose date the reader needs to see.
  • Funding cuts are dated and attributed; whether one caused a survey to lapse is not claimed.

Read the method note Back to Analysis