The U.N. children’s agency estimates that at least 200 million girls and women in 30 countries have undergone female circumcision.
According to a statistical report released on Thursday by UNICEF, the global figure includes nearly 70 million more girls and women than estimated in 2014 due to population growth and new data received from Indonesia.
Among the 200 million victims, 44 million are girls aged 14 or younger, since most girls have undergone female circumcision before the age of 5.
Almost half of the cases reported concern Egypt, Ethiopia and Indonesia.
In December 2012, the U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution calling for a global ban on female genital mutilation, while one of the targets in the new U.N. goals adopted last September calls for the practice to be eliminated by 2030.
