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Women first married before the age of 18

What share of women aged 20 to 24 were first married or in union before they were 18?

141 of 141 shown in the list

% of women aged 20 to 24 first married before 18

  1. Niger76.3% 2012
  2. Central African Republic61.0% 2019
  3. Chad60.6% 2019
  4. South Sudan51.5% 2010
  5. Mali48.5% 2024
  6. Mozambique48.4% 2023
  7. Bangladesh47.2% 2025
  8. Guinea46.5% 2018
  9. Eritrea40.7% 2010
  10. Ethiopia40.3% 2016
  11. Madagascar38.8% 2021
  12. Malawi38.7% 2024
  13. Burkina Faso38.2% 2021
  14. Mauritania36.6% 2021
  15. Suriname36.0% 2018
  16. Nicaragua35.2% 2012
  17. Nepal34.9% 2022
  18. Sudan34.2% 2014
  19. Honduras34.0% 2019
  20. Uganda34.0% 2016
  21. Zimbabwe33.7% 2019
  22. Belize33.5% 2016
  23. Nigeria33.4% 2024
  24. Guyana32.3% 2020
  25. Dominican Republic31.5% 2019

Source: UNICEF and the Demographic and Health Surveys Program, Women who were first married by age 18 (% of women ages 20-24), via the World Bank. Data for 2010 to 2025. What it counts, how to cite it and the data

At a glance

  • 141 countries or territories have a figure.
  • The highest is Niger at 76.3% (2012) and the lowest is Chile at 0.0% (2024).
  • The middle value (the median) is 17.0%.

What it counts

The percentage of women aged 20 to 24 who were first married or in a union before age 18, from household surveys compiled by UNICEF.

What it leaves out, and how far to trust a comparison

The law of each country sets its own minimum marriage age and its own exceptions, and the figure counts marriages and unions, whatever the law says. The latest survey for each country is from a different year (shown), and not every country has one.

Source

UNICEF and the Demographic and Health Surveys Program: Women who were first married by age 18 (% of women ages 20-24), via the World Bank, compiled in World Bank, World Development Indicators. Source licence: CC BY 4.0. Data retrieved 2026-10-23 to 2026-10-25.

Cite this chart

Free to use in teaching, articles, reports and slides, with credit. Our compilation is licensed CC BY 4.0; the source publishes the underlying data under its own licence, shown below.

Reference (APA style)

TheLawToKnow. (2026). Women first married before the age of 18 [Chart]. Law in Charts. https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/law-in-charts/marriage-before-18. Data: UNICEF and the Demographic and Health Surveys Program, Women who were first married by age 18 (% of women ages 20-24), via the World Bank, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.M18.2024.FE.ZS (data retrieved 2026-10-23 to 2026-10-25).

Short credit for slides and websites

Chart: TheLawToKnow, Law in Charts (https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/law-in-charts/marriage-before-18). Data: UNICEF and the Demographic and Health Surveys Program, via World Bank, World Development Indicators.

BibTeX

@misc{marriagebefore182026,
  author = {{TheLawToKnow}},
  title = {Women first married before the age of 18},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Law in Charts},
  url = {https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/law-in-charts/marriage-before-18},
  note = {Data: UNICEF and the Demographic and Health Surveys Program, Women who were first married by age 18 (% of women ages 20-24), via the World Bank, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.M18.2024.FE.ZS. Retrieved 2026-10-23 to 2026-10-25.}
}

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