In this article we will share the list of 20 countries that use child labor or forced labor for goods production. Although the world has progressed so much, two inhumane forms of labor — child labor and forced labor — are still prevalent in many parts of the world today.
In June 2021, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and UNICEF reported that between 2017 and 2021, there was an increase of 8.4 million children engaged in child labor worldwide. The increase — occurring for the first time in two decades — unfortunately brought the number up to 160 million.
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Furthermore, according to the 2024 data based on 2022 estimates by the ILO, 28 million men, women, and children are forced into labor globally. The recent Profits & Poverty report by the organization further reveals that forced labor, modern slavery, and human trafficking generate around $236 billion in illegal profits annually. Unfortunately, 63% of this forced labor happens in the private economy.
When Did It Begin? A Brief Look At the History of Child Labor And Forced Labor
It dates back to the Industrial Revolution in the late 1700s and early 1800s when power-driven machines began to replace hand labor for the production of most goods. Soon, factories began to appear everywhere as the revolution spread from England to the United States. These factories — a product of the revolution — then found a new source of labor to run the machines: children.
The primary reasons why factory owners turned towards employing children instead of adults were that they were cheaper, less likely to go on strikes, and more manageable than adult workers. One might think that the adults protested against this growing trend of child labor, but the events that went down in history suggest the opposite.
Inside these factories, children suffered greatly, working 12 to 18 hours a day, spinning mills, and carrying heavy loads, with only one day of the week off. Despite the hard work, the children earned only as little as a dollar. Sadly, many of these children began working at the tender age of 7 or below.
At that point in time, children were viewed for the economic value they bring to the household while employed at various operations. Instead of being criticized, this perspective — fueled by the widespread poverty in the working class during the revolution and backed by the legal foundation in the United States — was widely viewed as one of the natural privileges of parents.
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As the years went by, the thinking began to shift. In the last quarter of the 19th century, progressive child labor reformers gained more popularity and eventually, became successful in outlawing the employment of small children. Now, over two centuries later, child labor and forced labor are illegal by law in almost every part of the world.
However, due to the poor economic condition of families, it is still practiced in many countries. Due to poverty, many people end up selling themselves or their family members into labor in exchange for a lump sum amount of money or a loan.
Companies that Use Child Labor in 2024
Over the years, many leading companies in the fashion industry have been accused of using or being indirectly linked to this form of labor. In fact, these accusations within the industry stand as one of the most prominent examples of child labor in the world today. Some clothing companies allegedly using child labor include, Shein, Zara, Adidas, and Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS).
Other than these, some of the leading Fortune 500 companies, like Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL), and Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), have also allegedly been involved in buying goods that involve child labor or forced labor in 2024.
In March 2024, via Reuters, former child miners and their representatives raised an appeal in a federal appeals court against Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL), and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) for supporting child labor in cobalt mining operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL), and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT), with a 3-0 decision, and refused to hold them liable over their alleged support for child labor.
For context, DRC produces most of the world’s cobalt, and cobalt is used in making lithium-ion batteries found in electric vehicles, laptops, and cell phones. Since these technology companies were only involved in buying cobalt in the global supply chain and had no direct link to “participation in a venture” with child labor, they are not to be held accountable. Below, we list the top countries that use child labor or forced labor for goods production.
20 Countries that Use Child Labor or Forced Labor For Goods Production
Our Methodology
For our list of 20 Countries that Use Child Labor or Forced Labor For Goods Production, we used the most recent available data from The Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB). The data provided child labor and forced labor information for 159 goods from 77 countries and was last updated on September 28, 2022.
To rank the list, we assigned a score of 0.5 for the child labor category and 0.5 for the forced labor category. For each good, we aggregated these scores based on whether the good involved child labor or forced labor. For instance, since Ghana utilized both child labor and forced labor for the production of its Tilapia (fish) goods, its Tilapia (fish) received a score of 1. Subsequently, we summed these scores for each good listed for each country.
For example, Yemen, with just one good involving only child labor, had a total score of 0.5, whereas Zimbabwe, with three goods all involving child labor, had a total score of 1.5. Similarly, Nigeria, which had 7 goods in the data — some using only child labor and others using both child labor and forced labor — achieved a total score of 4.5 after our evaluation.
To break the ties within our evaluated list, we used the total number of goods involving child labor or forced labor as a secondary criterion, so countries with more goods using these labor practices ranked higher. For any ties that remained after this, we used alphabetical order by country name to break ties. The list is in ascending order.
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20 Countries that Use Child Labor or Forced Labor For Goods Production
20. Nigeria
Insider Monkey Score: 4.5
Number of Goods: 6
Situated on the Gulf of Guinea, Nigeria is an African country and one of the largest producers of cocoa in the world. Unfortunately, the country observes the employment of children and forced labor for the production of 6 different goods, including cocoa. The other five goods include gold, granite, gravel, sand, and Manioc/Cassava. According to ILAB’s findings, Nigeria made moderate advancements in efforts to eliminate child labor from the country in 2022.
19. Indonesia
Insider Monkey Score: 4.5
Number of Goods: 7
Indonesia, located in Southeast Asia and Oceania, uses child labor and/or forced labor in the production of fish, footwear (sandals), gold, palm fruit, rubber, tin, and tobacco goods.
In 2022, the country made efforts to eliminate some of the worst forms of child labor in the country significantly increasing its number of labor inspectors by 267 in 2021 to 1,570 in 2022. Simultaneously, the Ministry of Manpower also increased funding for the labor inspectorate from $12.2 million in 2021 to $15.1 million in 2022.
18. Ghana
Insider Monkey Score: 4.5
Number of Goods: 7
Ghana is an African country, that uses forced labor and child labor for the production of 7 different goods. These include bovines, cocoa, fish, gold, rice, textiles, and tilapia (fish). Since 2022, Ghana has made moderate advancement towards the elimination of child labor and forced labor in the country.
17. Turkey (Türkiye)
Insider Monkey Score: 5
Number of Goods: 10
Ranked 18, Turkey is officially named the Republic of Turkiye. The country produces ten goods (citrus fruits, cotton, cumin, footwear, furniture, garments, hazelnuts, peanuts, pulses, and sugar beets) using child labor. In 2018, Turkey made a moderate advancement in efforts to eliminate child labor in the country through various actions, including the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Elimination of Child Labor, and declaring 2018 as the Year of Elimination of Child Labor.
16. Democratic Republic of the Congo
Insider Monkey Score: 5.5
Number of Goods: 7
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) uses child labor and forced labor in the production of cobalt ore (heterogenite), copper, diamonds, gold, tantalum ore (coltan), tin ore (cassiterite), and tungsten ore (wolframite). Despite the government making efforts, DRC has seen only minimal advancement in measures taken against child labor, because of the national army’s complicity in child labor.
15. Colombia
Insider Monkey Score: 5.5
Number of Goods: 10
Located in South America, Colombia uses forced labor and child labor in the sectors of bricks (clay), coal, cocoa, coffee, emeralds, gold, sugarcane, fruits (pome and stone), grapes, and pornography. Since 2022, the country has seen significant advancements against child labor by amending the Code of Criminal Procedure, increasing the number of labor inspectors, establishing a welfare action plan for child labor in illegal mining operations, and increasing Venezuelan migrant children’s enrollment in the education system.
14. Kenya
Insider Monkey Score: 5.5
Number of Goods: 11
Kenya, an African country, uses child labor in the production of 11 goods. These goods include tobacco, tea, sugarcane, sand, rice, gold, cattle, coffee, sisal, Khat, and fish. On a government level, the country made efforts against child labor in the country in 2022 but has observed only minimal advancements.
13. Argentina
Insider Monkey Score: 6
Number of Goods: 11
Using child labor in the production of blueberries, bricks, cotton, garlic, grapes, olives, strawberries, tobacco, tomatoes, Yerba Mate, and garments, Argentina is ranked 14th on the list of countries using child labor or forced labor for goods production. For the production of garments, the country also sees the use of forced labor. Fortunately, since 2022, Argentina has made significant advancements to eliminate child labor from the country.
12. Bolivia
Insider Monkey Score: 6.5
Number of Goods: 10
Bolivia is a central South American country, that uses forced labor and child labor for the production of 10 different goods. These include Brazil Nuts/Chestnuts, gold, silver, tin, zinc, cattle, bricks, corn, peanuts, and sugarcane. Since 2022, Bolivia has made moderate advancements against child labor and forced labor within the country.
11. Uganda
Insider Monkey Score: 6.5
Number of Goods: 13
With 13 of the country’s sectors employing children and forced laborers in the workforce, Uganda ranks 12th on the list. It has made only moderate advancements against child labor and forced labor in the country since 2022. The goods that use such labor in Uganda include bricks, cattle, charcoal, coffee, fish, gold, rice, sand, stones, sugarcane, tea, tobacco, and vanilla.
10. Philippines
Insider Monkey Score: 6.5
Number of Goods: 13
The Philippines, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia, is one of the top countries that employ child labor for goods production. In fact, the country employs children in the production of 13 different goods in the Philippines, namely bananas, coconuts, corn, fashion accessories, fish, gold, hogs, pornography, pyrotechnics, rice, rubber, sugarcane, and tobacco. In 2022, the Philippines made moderate advancements against child labor within the country.
9. Mexico
Insider Monkey Score: 8.5
Number of Goods: 15
Ranked 9th, Mexico uses child labor for the production of 15 goods, including onions, cucumbers, tobacco, beans (green beans), poppies, melons, Chile Peppers, sugarcane, eggplants, pornography, tomatoes, coffee, cattle, garments, and leather goods/accessories. For two of these (Chile Peppers and tomatoes), forced labor is also used. To combat this widespread use of the worst form of child labor and forced labor, Mexico made moderate advancements in 2022.
8. Bangladesh
Insider Monkey Score: 8.5
Number of Goods: 15
Bangladesh, a country in South Asia known for its lush greenery and waterways, also ranks among the top countries using child labor and forced labor for the production of its goods. These include Bidis (hand-rolled cigarettes), bricks, fish, footwear, steel furniture, garments, glass, leather, matches, poultry, salt, shrimp, soap, and textiles. Unfortunately, Bangladesh has only made minimal efforts to eliminate child labor and forced labor from the country.
7. Vietnam
Insider Monkey Score: 8.5
Number of Goods: 16
Located in Southeast Asia, Vietnam is a developing lower-middle-income country best known for its beaches, rivers, and Buddhist pagodas. Of the 16 goods in which the country uses child labor and forced labor for production, some include cashews, coffee, bricks, fish, furniture, textiles, and timber.
6. Pakistan
Insider Monkey Score: 10
Number of Goods: 17
6th on the list, Pakistan employs children and forced laborers in the production of 17 of its major goods, including textiles, sugarcane, rice, wheat, and carpets. Since 2022, Pakistan has made moderate advancement toward the elimination of the worst form of child labor and forced labor from within the country.
5. Myanmar (Burma)
Insider Monkey Score: 11.5
Number of Goods: 14
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is a country mainly engulfed in crises and conflicts. The country uses child labor and forced labor across the production of 14 different goods including sunflowers, teak, rubies, sesame, shrimp, sugarcane, bricks, garments, jade, rubber, palm thatch, beans, and bamboo. Unfortunately, the country shows complicity in the use of forced labor and child labor and has shown no advancements toward the elimination of this type of labor so far.
4. China
Insider Monkey Score: 12
Number of Goods: 18
Despite having the 2nd largest economy in the world as of 2024, China is still among the top 5 countries that use child labor or forced labor for goods production. The country employs children or forced laborers in 18 different sectors, including thread/yarn, artificial flowers, hair products, Christmas decorations, coal, cotton, electronics, toys, and polysilicon.
3. Paraguay
Insider Monkey Score: 12.5
Number of Goods: 24
3rd on the list, Paraguay is a South American country, that uses forced labor and child labor for the production of 24 different goods. These include different vegetables, sources of meat, stones, fruits, and pornography. Since 2022, the country has made moderate advancements in eliminating the worst forms of child labor.
2. Brazil
Insider Monkey Score: 14.5
Number of Goods: 25
Brazil, a country in South America known for the Amazon Rainforest and Amazon River, ranks second on the list of countries using child labor and forced labor for the production of its goods. Of the 25 goods produced using this form of labor, some of the most notable ones include Açaí Berries, cashews, beef, sisal, timber, Manioc/Cassava, and cocoa. Fortunately, Brazil has made moderate advancements to eliminate child labor and forced labor from the country.
1. India
Insider Monkey Score: 17.5
Number of Goods: 26
India, having the largest population in the world and the 5th largest economy as of 2024, tops the list of countries that use child labor and forced labor for goods production. The country employs children and forced laborers in 26 different sectors, including textile, bricks, carpets, cotton, and gems. Since 2022, India has seen moderate advancements in eliminating child labor and forced labor from the country.
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