Child labour has increased nationally in Bangladesh since 2019 among children aged in between 5 and 17 years, revealed the preliminary findings of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2025.
Along with this, almost four out of 10 children have lead levels in their bloods, shows the survey conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, in partnership with UNICEF and other partners.
The findings were released at a national dissemination event, organised jointly by BBS and UNICEF, at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in the capital.
The survey was conducted on around 63,000 households between October 2024 and June this year in all 64 districts.
As per the findings, child labour involves 9.2 per cent of children aged in between 5 and 17 years in 2025 which percentage was 6.8 in 2019, placing 1.2 million more children at risk.
It also showed that 38 per cent of children aged 12-59 months and nearly 8 per cent of pregnant women have blood lead levels above safe thresholds, with Dhaka (65 per cent) most affected.
The findings also showed rise in C-section rate at 51.8 per cent in 2025 from 36 per cent in 2019 and decline in contraceptive prevalence rate at 58.2 per cent from 62.7 per cent in 2019.