Around 520 million children worldwide lived in conflict zones in 2024, 47 million more than the previous year and the highest number recorded since 2005, according to a report by Save the Children published on Tuesday.
The aid group said this means one in five children globally were living in active conflict zones in 2024.
The report said that 41,763 "grave violations against children" were verified last year alone, a 30% increase from 2023 and a record high. More than half of these incidents occurred in just four regions: the occupied Palestinian territories, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Somalia.
Overall, 61 state-based conflicts were recorded, meaning those in which at least one warring party was a state government, the highest figure since 1946.
Florian Westphal, chief executive of Save the Children Germany, called for urgent political action.
At a time of global military build-up, protecting children must be at the centre of security policy, he said, adding that it was scandalous that governments spend more on weapons than on protecting children in conflict zones.
The report draws on data from the Oslo-based Peace Research Institute(PRIO) and United Nations reports. Conflict zones are defined as areas within 50 kilometres of a site that experienced at least one "conflict incident" in a given year.
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