The KidsRights Index, now in its 13th year, is the first and the only global ranking that annually measures how children’s rights are respected worldwide and to what extent countries are delivering on improving the rights of children. The thematic introduction to the 2025 ranking highlights the problem of missing data and, among other things, reveals an urgent need for coordinated action to address the digital environment’s harmful impact on young minds.
The KidsRights Index 2025 report, published by the KidsRights Foundation in collaboration with Erasmus University Rotterdam (International Institute of Social Studies and Erasmus School of Economics), highlights that over 14 percent of children and adolescents aged 10-19 years globally are experiencing mental health concerns, with the global average suicide rate standing at 6 per 100,000 among adolescents aged 15-19 years. However, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child warns that these figures represent only the tip of the iceberg, as suicides remain significantly underreported worldwide due to stigma, misclassification, and inadequate reporting mechanisms.
“This year’s report is a wake-up call that we cannot ignore any longer” said Marc Dullaert, Founder and Chairman of KidsRights. “The mental health and/or wellbeing crisis among our children has reached a tipping point, exacerbated by the unchecked expansion of social media platforms that prioritize engagement over child safety. The controversy surrounding Netflix’s ‘Adolescence’ in February highlighted global concerns about children’s representation and protection in digital media – but we need action, not just outrage”.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has called for stepping up data collection, awareness-building, and training of mental health professionals to address rising suicide rates and emotional distress among children and adolescents. The Committee has noted that currently states parties are not catering sufficiently to the health and development needs of adolescents up to 18 years old.
The Digital Pandora's Box
The introduction to the KidsRights Index 2025 report identifies a troubling correlation between problematic social media use and deteriorating mental health situations. Between 2018 and 2022, problematic social media use among adolescents aged 11, 13, and 15 across 44 countries in Europe, Central Asia, and Canada increased from 7 to 11 percent. Research studies have established a direct correlation between heavy internet and social media use and increased suicide attempts among under-19-year-olds, based on data from Türkiye, Austria, Europe, Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Canada, and China.
“We are witnessing governments struggle to contain a digital crisis that is fundamentally reshaping childhood”, Dullaert continued. “While major social media platforms face fines in some jurisdictions – such as the £12.7 million penalty imposed by the UK for misusing children’s data – these reactive measures are insufficient. We need proactive, comprehensive frameworks that prioritize child welfare over corporate profits”.
The report notes concerning regional variations in digital exposure risks. In Europe, 13-year-olds face the greatest risk of problematic social media usage at 13 percent, while 11-year-olds are at higher risk of problematic gaming at 13 percent. Continuous online contact with friends throughout the day impacts 39 percent of 15-year-olds, creating unprecedented levels of digital dependency.
Regulation vs. Rights: Finding the Balance
The Index report reveals growing international efforts to address digital harms but warns against approaches that may inadvertently violate children’s rights. Australia’s recent ban on social media access for children under 16, set to take effect in December 2025, exemplifies this tension. While aimed at protecting young people from social media’s harmful effects, the report notes such blanket bans may infringe on children’s civil and political rights, including their rights to access information, privacy, association, health, development, and education as provided by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
France’s 2023 law and Norway’s proposal to increase the social media consent age to 15 offer more flexible approaches, allowing parental consent for younger children while maintaining protection frameworks. The report emphasizes that failure by governments to comprehensively regulate the digital environment should not be masked by “quick fix bans” that may deprive children of beneficial educational content and lead to social isolation.
Call for Immediate Action
Dullaert emphasized the urgent need for coordinated global action: “Governments must move beyond reactive policies and embrace comprehensive strategies that address the root causes of this mental health epidemic. This means mandatory child rights impact assessments for all digital platforms, transparent algorithms designed with child welfare in mind, and robust public-private partnerships that prioritize protection over profit”.
The report recommends immediate measures including:
- Implementing comprehensive child rights impact assessments for all social media platforms and digital services
- Establishing mandatory age verification systems that protect rather than exclude children
- Creating specialized mental health support services tailored to digital-age challenges
- Developing educational curricula that build digital literacy and emotional resilience
- Ensuring adequate training for healthcare professionals to address technology-related mental health issues
“The Netflix ‘Adolescence’ controversy in February demonstrated global awareness of these issues, but awareness alone is insufficient”, Dullaert concluded. “We need concrete action to ensure that the digital revolution serves to enhance, not endanger, the wellbeing of the world’s 2.2 billion children. The time for half-measures is over”.
Critical Data Gaps Hampering Progress
A significant challenge identified in the report is the serious lack of comprehensive data on children’s mental health globally. Despite the widespread nature of mental health problems among youth, data collection remains in its infancy. The 7th round of Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), which began in 2023, represents the first major effort to systematically collect mental health data among adolescents. However, as of April 2025, only Mongolia has provided substantive data insights on mental health indicators among adolescents, with comparable quantitative data not expected to be sufficiently available for another 2-3 years.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child is increasingly addressing mental health concerns. In its 2024 Concluding Observations, 16 of 19 countries reviewed received specific recommendations on mental health services, suicide prevention, or related issues. The Committee expressed explicit concerns about increasing suicide rates in countries such as Argentina, Estonia, Israel and Russia, while Lithuania, Paraguay, and Turkmenistan were advised to strengthen suicide prevention strategies.
Index Rankings Reveal Global Disparities
The overall KidsRights Index 2025 shows Greece, Iceland, Luxembourg, and Germany maintaining their positions as top performers in the realization of children’s rights. Only minimal score differences are separating the top three countries. Monaco entered the top ten with a remarkable 13-rank improvement from the 18th to the 5th place, while Norway too climbed into the top ten from the 11th to the 8th position.
Significant movements in ranking included Lithuania’s dramatic 92-rank improvement from the 112th to the 20th place. This is primarily due to the country’s enhanced performance in creating the enabling environment for children’s rights, according to the latest assessment by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. Armenia improved by 56 ranks (from 125th to 69th), and Argentina advanced 36 positions (from 84th to 48th).
However, concerning declines were observed in several countries. Mexico experienced the steepest fall, dropping 87 ranks from 42nd to 129th, followed by Bulgaria’s 75-rank decline from 30th to 105th. These drops were attributed to reduced scores on domain 5 of the Index (charting performance on the enabling environment for children’s rights) following 2024 UN Committee evaluations.
Afghanistan remained at the bottom of the rankings (194th), replacing Chad as the lowest-performing country. South Sudan maintained its position as the second-lowest ranked nation, highlighting persistent challenges in conflict-affected regions.