Countries by share of children under 15

Countries by share of children under 15, World Bank, 2025

#	Country	% under 15	Region
1	Central African Republic	48.7%	Middle Africa
2	Somalia	46.6%	Eastern Africa
3	Niger	46.2%	Western Africa
4	Chad	46.0%	Middle Africa
5	DR Congo	45.9%	Middle Africa
6	Mali	45.8%	Western Africa
7	Mozambique	44.2%	Eastern Africa
8	Angola	44.1%	Middle Africa
9	Burundi	44.0%	Eastern Africa
10	Uganda	43.1%	Eastern Africa
11	Afghanistan	42.6%	Southern Asia
12	Mauritania	42.4%	Western Africa
13	Tanzania	42.3%	Eastern Africa
14	Benin	41.3%	Western Africa
15	Burkina Faso	41.2%	Western Africa
16	Cameroon	41.1%	Middle Africa
=17	Yemen	41.0%	Western Asia
=17	Zambia	41.0%	Eastern Africa
=19	Côte d'Ivoire	40.5%	Western Africa
=19	Guinea	40.5%	Western Africa
=19	Nigeria	40.5%	Western Africa
22	Togo	40.4%	Western Africa
23	Zimbabwe	40.3%	Eastern Africa
24	Sudan	40.2%	Northern Africa
25	Malawi	40.1%	Eastern Africa
26	Congo	39.9%	Middle Africa
27	Gambia	39.7%	Western Africa
28	Liberia	39.1%	Western Africa
29	Madagascar	38.9%	Eastern Africa
30	Ethiopia	38.8%	Eastern Africa
31	Guinea-Bissau	38.3%	Western Africa
32	Samoa	38.1%	Polynesia
=33	South Sudan	38.0%	Eastern Africa
=33	Vanuatu	38.0%	Melanesia
=35	Senegal	37.7%	Western Africa
=35	Sierra Leone	37.7%	Western Africa
37	Eritrea	37.6%	Eastern Africa
38	São Tomé and Principe	37.5%	Middle Africa
39	Nauru	37.2%	Micronesia
40	Equatorial Guinea	37.1%	Middle Africa
41	Rwanda	37.0%	Eastern Africa
42	Comoros	36.9%	Eastern Africa
43	Namibia	36.7%	Southern Africa
44	Solomon Islands	36.6%	Melanesia
45	Kenya	36.3%	Eastern Africa
=46	Gabon	36.2%	Middle Africa
=46	Pakistan	36.2%	Southern Asia
48	Iraq	36.0%	Western Asia
49	Tajikistan	35.9%	Central Asia
50	Ghana	35.4%	Western Africa
51	Tonga	34.9%	Polynesia
52	Kiribati	34.4%	Micronesia
53	Lesotho	34.1%	Southern Africa
54	Marshall Islands	33.9%	Micronesia
=55	Papua New Guinea	33.1%	Melanesia
=55	Timor-Leste	33.1%	South-Eastern Asia
57	Eswatini	33.0%	Southern Africa
58	Botswana	32.0%	Southern Africa
59	Kyrgyzstan	31.9%	Central Asia
=60	Egypt	31.6%	Northern Africa
=60	Mongolia	31.6%	Eastern Asia
62	Micronesia	31.5%	Micronesia
63	Uzbekistan	31.3%	Central Asia
64	Turkmenistan	31.2%	Central Asia
65	Guatemala	31.0%	Central America
66	Haiti	30.8%	Caribbean
67	Honduras	30.3%	Central America
68	Jordan	30.2%	Western Asia
69	Algeria	29.9%	Northern Africa
70	Laos	29.8%	South-Eastern Asia
71	Cambodia	29.5%	South-Eastern Asia
72	Bolivia	29.4%	South America
73	Kazakhstan	29.1%	Central Asia
74	Guyana	28.9%	South America
75	Djibouti	28.8%	Eastern Africa
=76	Paraguay	28.4%	South America
=76	Syria	28.4%	Western Asia
78	Nicaragua	28.3%	Central America
79	Nepal	28.1%	Southern Asia
80	Bangladesh	27.6%	Southern Asia
81	Israel	27.2%	Western Asia
82	Philippines	27.1%	South-Eastern Asia
=83	Fiji	26.8%	Melanesia
=83	Libya	26.8%	Northern Africa
85	Belize	26.3%	Central America
86	Dominican Republic	26.2%	Caribbean
87	South Africa	25.7%	Southern Africa
88	Lebanon	25.6%	Western Asia
89	Suriname	25.3%	South America
90	Morocco	25.2%	Northern Africa
91	Venezuela	24.9%	South America
92	Cabo Verde	24.7%	Western Africa
93	Panama	24.5%	Central America
94	El Salvador	24.4%	Central America
95	Oman	24.3%	Western Asia
=96	India	24.2%	Southern Asia
=96	Indonesia	24.2%	South-Eastern Asia
=98	Mexico	24.1%	Central America
=98	Myanmar	24.1%	South-Eastern Asia
100	Ecuador	23.9%	South America
=101	Peru	23.6%	South America
=101	Saudi Arabia	23.6%	Western Asia
=101	Tunisia	23.6%	Northern Africa
104	Vietnam	22.9%	South-Eastern Asia
105	Iran	22.0%	Southern Asia
106	Sri Lanka	21.7%	Southern Asia
107	Malaysia	21.3%	South-Eastern Asia
108	Azerbaijan	21.2%	Western Asia
=109	Argentina	21.0%	South America
=109	Turkey	21.0%	Western Asia
111	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	20.9%	Caribbean
112	Brunei	20.6%	South-Eastern Asia
113	Georgia	20.5%	Western Asia
114	Bhutan	20.4%	Southern Asia
115	Colombia	20.0%	South America
116	Seychelles	19.8%	Eastern Africa
117	Moldova	19.5%	Eastern Europe
118	Brazil	19.4%	South America
=119	Armenia	19.0%	Western Asia
=119	Grenada	19.0%	Caribbean
=119	Maldives	19.0%	Southern Asia
122	North Korea	18.9%	Eastern Asia
123	Bahrain	18.4%	Western Asia
=124	Costa Rica	18.3%	Central America
=124	Jamaica	18.3%	Caribbean
=124	Saint Kitts and Nevis	18.3%	Caribbean
127	Ireland	18.1%	Northern Europe
128	Kuwait	18.0%	Western Asia
=129	Montenegro	17.9%	Southern Europe
=129	New Zealand	17.9%	Australia and New Zealand
=129	Palau	17.9%	Micronesia
=129	Uruguay	17.9%	South America
133	Australia	17.7%	Australia and New Zealand
134	Dominica	17.6%	Caribbean
=135	Antigua and Barbuda	17.5%	Caribbean
=135	Bahamas	17.5%	Caribbean
=135	Iceland	17.5%	Northern Europe
=135	Trinidad and Tobago	17.5%	Caribbean
139	Saint Lucia	17.2%	Caribbean
=140	Barbados	17.1%	Caribbean
=140	United States	17.1%	Northern America
=142	Russia	17.0%	Eastern Europe
=142	United Kingdom	17.0%	Northern Europe
144	Sweden	16.7%	Northern Europe
145	Albania	16.6%	Southern Europe
=146	Chile	16.5%	South America
=146	North Macedonia	16.5%	Southern Europe
148	France	16.2%	Western Europe
149	Cyprus	16.1%	Western Asia
150	United Arab Emirates	16.0%	Western Asia
=151	Belarus	15.9%	Eastern Europe
=151	Norway	15.9%	Northern Europe
=153	Belgium	15.7%	Western Europe
=153	Luxembourg	15.7%	Western Europe
=155	Denmark	15.6%	Northern Europe
=155	Romania	15.6%	Eastern Europe
=155	Slovakia	15.6%	Eastern Europe
158	China	15.4%	Eastern Asia
159	Estonia	15.3%	Northern Europe
160	Latvia	15.2%	Northern Europe
161	Czechia	15.1%	Eastern Europe
=162	Canada	15.0%	Northern America
=162	Cuba	15.0%	Caribbean
=162	Qatar	15.0%	Western Asia
=165	Netherlands	14.9%	Western Europe
=165	Switzerland	14.9%	Western Europe
=167	Lithuania	14.5%	Northern Europe
=167	Mauritius	14.5%	Eastern Africa
=167	Poland	14.5%	Eastern Europe
=167	Slovenia	14.5%	Southern Europe
=171	Bulgaria	14.4%	Eastern Europe
=171	Hungary	14.4%	Eastern Europe
=171	Thailand	14.4%	South-Eastern Asia
=174	Finland	14.3%	Northern Europe
=174	Serbia	14.3%	Southern Europe
176	Liechtenstein	14.2%	Western Europe
177	Austria	14.1%	Western Europe
178	Germany	13.9%	Western Europe
179	Monaco	13.8%	Western Europe
=180	Croatia	13.7%	Southern Europe
=180	Ukraine	13.7%	Eastern Europe
=182	Greece	12.9%	Southern Europe
=182	Malta	12.9%	Southern Europe
184	Bosnia and Herzegovina	12.8%	Southern Europe
185	Portugal	12.7%	Southern Europe
186	Spain	12.6%	Southern Europe
187	San Marino	11.9%	Southern Europe
=188	Italy	11.7%	Southern Europe
=188	Singapore	11.7%	South-Eastern Asia
190	Andorra	11.6%	Southern Europe
191	Japan	11.2%	Eastern Asia
192	South Korea	10.2%	Eastern Asia

No World Bank figure for 2 countries: Taiwan, Vatican City.

Territories and other places

Not ranked: dependencies of the states above, places whose status is disputed, and Antarctica. Highest first.

Place	% under 15	Status
Palestine	37.6%	Status disputed
American Samoa	26.3%	Territory of United States of America
Guam	25.9%	Territory of United States of America
Northern Mariana Islands	21.2%	Territory of United States of America
New Caledonia	21.1%	Territory of France
Saint Martin	21.1%	Territory of France
Greenland	20.7%	Territory of Denmark
Faroe Islands	19.9%	Territory of Denmark
French Polynesia	18.5%	Territory of France
Aruba	16.5%	Territory of Netherlands
US Virgin Islands	16.5%	Territory of United States of America
Cayman Islands	16.1%	Territory of United Kingdom
Turks and Caicos Islands	16.0%	Territory of United Kingdom
Sint Maarten	14.8%	Territory of Netherlands
Curaçao	14.6%	Territory of Netherlands
British Virgin Islands	14.1%	Territory of United Kingdom
Isle of Man	13.9%	Territory of United Kingdom
Macao	13.7%	Territory of China
Bermuda	13.4%	Territory of United Kingdom
Puerto Rico	11.2%	Territory of United States of America
Hong Kong	10.3%	Territory of China

Questions

Which country has the largest share of children?

The Central African Republic has the largest share of children: 48.7% under 15 (2025). Next come Somalia (46.6% under 15) and Niger (46.2% under 15).

Which country has the smallest share of children?

South Korea, with 10.2% under 15 (2025).

What is the typical children under 15 of a country?

The median of the 192 countries is 24.2% under 15: half are above it, half below. The median, not the average, because a few countries at the top would drag an average far above almost everyone.

Where do the figures come from?

The share of the population aged 0 to 14. Source: World Bank, 2025. Only independent states are ranked; territories are listed separately.

Source: World Bank (CC BY 4.0). Figures more than 5 years older than the newest are left out rather than shown beside current ones. Countries sharing a value share a rank. All sources.