Worldwide Orphan Facts, Figures and Statistics 

Sub-Saharan Africa Orphan Statistics

  • The total number of orphans in Sub-Saharan Africa is greater than the total number of children in Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Canada and Sweden.
  • There are currently an estimated 53.1 million orphans in Sub-Saharan Africa. Of those children, 30% lost parents to the AIDS epidemic.
  • An estimated 12% of all children in Sub-Saharan Africa are orphans.  Of those children, 5.7 million were orphaned in 2010 alone.
  • There are 28.5 million estimated maternal orphans in Sub-Saharan Africa. Over 14,000 of them are being raised in one of the 126 SOS Children’s Villages in the region.
  • At least 600,000 people are supported through other SOS facilities, including SOS schools and Family Strengthening Programs.

Asia Orphan Statistics

  • There are currently 68.9 million orphans in Asia, giving this region the largest absolute number of orphans in the world.
  • Roughly 6% of all children in Asia are orphans, with 7.7 million orphaned in 2010 alone.
  • In Cambodia, Laos and Korea the prevalence is even higher where 10% of all children are orphans.
  • There are 20.3 million maternal orphans in Asia.  SOS Children’s Villages cares for 27,000 of them in 149 SOS Children’s Villages in the region.
  • India alone has 31 SOS Children’s Villages throughout the country, making it the country with the largest amount of SOS Children’s Villages in the world.

Latin America Orphan Statistics

  • Roughly 5% of all children in Latin America are orphans (10.2 million in total), with 1.2 million orphaned in 2010 alone.
  • Even before the tragic earthquake in Haiti, over 15% of children were estimated to be orphans, more than twice the regional average.
  • There are 2.5 million maternal orphans in Latin America, SOS Children’s Villages cares for 13,000 of them in 126 SOS Children’s Villages in the region.
  • Many of these SOS children are former street children, orphaned or abandoned as a result of poverty, conflict, or natural disaster.
  • SOS Children's Villages renders immediate assistance in the face of conflict or natural disaster with emergency relief programs, which are often converted into permanent facilities

Foster Care in the United States

Approximately 25,000 children age out of the foster care system every year at age 18.

  • 25% of these foster children will become homeless
  • 56% of these emancipated foster care children enter the unemployment ranks
  • 27% of the emancipated male children in foster care end up in jail
  • 30% of the emancipated females in foster care experience early parenthood

SOS children never "age-out" of the system as we believe that post-high school support is critical to a young adult's long-term success.  SOS cares for 240 children at 3 Children's Villages in the United States where they have the opportunity to grow up with their siblings in a loving, family-based environment.