Children in many of the world’s richest nations have experienced significant drops in academic achievement, mental health, and physical wellbeing since COVID-19 began, reveals a new UNICEF Innocenti report.

Report Card 19: Child Wellbeing in an Unpredictable World compares data from 2018 and 2022 across 43 OECD and EU countries. The Netherlands and Denmark remain the best places to be a child, followed closely by France. However, the pandemic caused steep declines in key academic skills like reading and math, with children falling behind by an average of seven months to a year. Those from disadvantaged backgrounds faced the harshest setbacks.

Before COVID-19, many children were already struggling without adequate support, said UNICEF Innocenti Director Bo Viktor Nylund. With economic uncertainty rising, he stressed that governments must urgently prioritize children’s education, health, and wellbeing to protect their futures and societal prosperity.

Alarmingly, around 8 million 15-year-olds—half of that age group—were found to lack basic literacy and numeracy skills, a 4% increase since 2018. Countries like Bulgaria, Colombia, and Mexico saw over two-thirds of teens unable to meet these basic standards.

Mental health also declined sharply, with life satisfaction falling in nearly half the countries studied, except for Japan, which showed improvement. Physical health issues worsened too, with rising rates of overweight children continuing a concerning trend.

UNICEF urges governments to act now by boosting skill development, expanding mental health services, promoting nutritious food, and involving children in solutions. “We need a whole-child approach to truly support their needs at every life stage,” Nylund emphasized.