ILO and UNICEF count 138 million children in labour worldwide
New ILO-UNICEF estimates show child labour falling since 2020 but still far from the missed UN 2025 elimination target.
In 30 seconds
- The ILO-UNICEF estimates put 138 million children in child labour in 2024.
- The ILO-UNICEF figures count 54 million children in hazardous work.
- The ILO-UNICEF sector split puts 61 percent of cases in agriculture.
- The European Commission says CSDDD applies to very large companies and global value chains.
The International Labour Organization (UN agency founded in 1919 to set labour standards) and UNICEF (UN children's agency created in 1946) produce the global child-labour estimates used by governments and campaigners. World Day Against Child Labour (ILO awareness day observed annually on 12 June since 2002) is the hook for the new figures. UN Sustainable Development Goal Target 8.7 (the 2015 target on forced labour, modern slavery and child labour) set 2025 as the deadline for ending child labour in all forms. Sub-Saharan Africa (the region south of the Sahara, excluding North Africa) remains the largest regional burden in the ILO-UNICEF account. Ghana and Nigeria are West African economies cited in the lead item as examples of agricultural, mining, fishing and domestic-work exposure. The EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (Directive 2024/1760, in force since 2024 and later amended) and the EU Forced Labour Regulation (Regulation 2024/3015, applying fully from December 2027) are the main EU policy channels relevant to Belgian companies and consumers.
Background
ILO Convention No. 138 on minimum age was adopted in 1973, and ILO Convention No. 182 on the worst forms of child labour was adopted in 1999 and reached universal ratification in 2020. The UN's 2015 Sustainable Development Goals made 2025 the deadline for ending child labour in all forms. ILO-UNICEF figures recorded a reversal in 2020, when child labour rose to 160 million for the first time in two decades. The latest ILO-UNICEF figures indicate improvement since then, but not fast enough to meet the missed 2025 deadline.
The wider picture
Child labour risk is tied to global supply chains for food, textiles, minerals and consumer goods, where production often sits in poorer, climate-exposed or conflict-affected regions while consumption happens in richer markets. EU rules can raise labour standards through market access, but they also test relations with exporting countries that may view compliance demands as costly or unevenly shared.
Why now
World Day Against Child Labour on 12 June brought renewed attention to the latest ILO-UNICEF estimates and to the missed UN 2025 deadline for eliminating child labour. The timing also matters because EU supply-chain rules are moving from adoption into implementation planning.
What happens next
Watch for the European Commission's CSDDD guidance due by July 2027, national implementation work by EU member states, and the full application of the EU forced-labour product ban in December 2027. The next ILO-UNICEF global estimates will indicate whether the decline from 2020 has accelerated or stalled.
What to do
For Belgian readers, nothing changes at the checkout immediately. The practical shift is upstream: larger companies and public buyers will need stronger supply-chain risk mapping, while smaller suppliers may face more documentation requests. Consumers and investors should expect more claims about traceability, but the key test will be whether those claims are backed by credible audits, complaints channels and remediation.
How we got here
- 1973-06-26
The ILO adopted Convention No. 138 on minimum age for admission to employment.
- 1999-06-17
The ILO adopted Convention No. 182 on the worst forms of child labour.
- 2002-06-12
The ILO launched World Day Against Child Labour.
- 2015-09-25
UN member states adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, including Target 8.7.
- 2020-08-04
ILO Convention No. 182 reached universal ratification by ILO member states.
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