India Facts
- With a population of over 1 billion, India is home to 400 million children, the largest number in any country in the world
- One third of the world’s children living in poverty are in India
- A staggering 10,000 babies die every single day from easily preventable causes such as malnutrition and diarrhoea
- More than 2 million babies die each year before they celebrate their first birthday
- Every 6th girl-child’s death is due to gender discrimination, also known as female infanticide
- Over 10 million children go to sleep on the pavement each night hungry and unprotected
- Over 40% of children live in poverty and extreme hardship
Education
- Nearly half of India’s children are deprived of their fundamental right to education each day
- A startling two-thirds of girl-children cannot read or write
Exploitation of Children
- India is home to the largest population of working children in the world with an estimated 111 million children struggling as child labourers - most often working in hazardous and degrading conditions, for an average of 12 hours a day and earning extremely small wages
- The third largest crime in India after drugs and gun smuggling is child trafficking – over 45,000 children go missing each year
- Over 2 million children, mainly girls aged 5-15, are forced into prostitution and sexual slavery
- Each year 500,000+ children are forced into the sex trade with an annual increase of 10%
Source: UNICEF, World Health Organization, United Nations Population Division and United Nations Statistics Division.
