Ending
CHILD
MARRIAGE
Progress and prospects
© UNICEF/BANA2013-01082/Kiron
The current situation
Worldwide, more than 700 million women alive today were
married before their 18th birthday. More than one in three
(about 250 million) entered into union before age 15.
Boys are also married as children, but girls are
disproportionately affected. In Niger, for instance, 77 per
cent of women aged 20 to 49 were married before age 18 in
contrast to 5 per cent of men in the same age group. Even
in countries where child marriage is less common, the same
gender differences are found. In the Republic of Moldova, for
example, 15 per cent of women aged 20 to 49 were married
before age 18 compared to 2 per cent of men. Furthermore,
girls are often married to considerably older men. In
Mauritania and Nigeria, more than half of adolescent girls
aged 15 to 19 who are currently married have husbands who
are 10 or more years older than they are. Child marriage is
a manifestation of gender inequality, reflecting social norms
that perpetuate discrimination against girls.
Child marriage among girls is most common in South Asia
and sub-Saharan Africa, and the 10 countries with the highest
rates are found in these two regions. Niger has the highest
overall prevalence of child marriage in the world. However,
Bangladesh has the highest rate of marriage involving girls
under age 15. South Asia is home to almost half (42 per cent)
of all child brides worldwide; India alone accounts for one
third of the global total.
Child marriage affects girls in far greater numbers
than boys
Almost half of all child brides worldwide live in
South Asia; 1 in 3 are in India
Number of women and men aged 18 years and older who were married or
in union before ages 15 and 18
Percentage distribution of women aged 18 years and older who were married
or in union before age 18, by region
720 million
Central and Eastern Europe and
the Commonwealth of Independent
States (CEE/CIS), 4%
Married before age 15
Married after age 15 but before age 18
Industrialized countries, 2%
Middle East and North Africa, 5%
Eastern and Southern Africa, 6%
India, 33%
West and Central Africa, 7%
Latin America and
the Caribbean, 9%
156 million
Women
South Asia, 42%
East Asia and the Pacific, 25%
Men
Note: Estimates are based on a subset of countries covering around 50 per cent of the global population of
women and men aged 18 years and older.
Note: Estimates are based on a subset of countries covering around 50 per cent of the global population of
women aged 18 years and older.
The highest rates of child marriage are found in
South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa
The 10 countries with the highest rates of
child marriage
Percentage of women aged 20 to 49 years who were married or in union
before ages 15 and 18, by region
Percentage of women aged 20 to 49 years who were married or in union before
ages 15 and 18, in the 10 countries with the highest prevalence of child marriage
South Asia
100
56
West and Central Africa
80
38
CEE/CIS
Married before age 15
Married after age 15 but before age 18
14
52
52
58
60
61
Mali
50
21
58
Central African
Republic
East Asia and the Pacific
58
India
60
24
Burkina Faso
Middle East and North Africa
Guinea
70
30
Nepal
Latin America and the Caribbean
69
Ethiopia
Eastern and Southern Africa
Married before age 15
Married after age 15 but before age 18
90
46
74
77
40
30
Least developed countries
20
52
10
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Note: Estimates are based on a subset of countries covering around 50 per cent of the global population of
women aged 20 to 49 years. Regional estimates represent data covering at least 50 per cent of the regional
population. Data coverage is below 50 per cent for East Asia and the Pacific region due to the lack of
comparable data on child marriage for China in UNICEF global databases.
100
0
Niger
0
Bangladesh
29
Chad
World
Girls most at risk
Not all girls face the same risk of becoming child brides, even
within countries. In Ethiopia, the rate of child marriage is three
times higher in the northern region of Amhara (75 per cent)
than in the capital city of Addis Ababa (26 per cent). Child
marriage is also more common among certain population
groups. In Serbia, for example, 8 per cent of women overall
were married as children; however, the share is more than half
(54 per cent) among women in Roma communities.
There is also a substantial gap in the prevalence of child
marriage between the poorest and richest. Females in the
poorest quintile are 2.5 times more likely to marry in childhood
than those living in the wealthiest quintile. This disparity is
particularly pronounced in certain countries. In India, the
median age at first marriage is 19.7 years for women in the
richest quintile compared to 15.4 for the poorest women. The
same pattern is also observed in the Dominican Republic,
where at least half of the poorest women entered into their
first marriage or union at about age 17 compared to age
21 among the richest women. Across all regions, girls who
live in rural areas are more likely to become child brides
than their urban counterparts. This difference is especially
striking in some countries in West and Central Africa and in
Latin American and the Caribbean, where the prevelence of
child marriage in rural areas is about twice the level found in
urban areas.
In every region, the poor are most at risk of child marriage
Percentage of women aged 20 to 49 years who were married or in union before age 18, by wealth quintile and by region
Poorest quintile
Second quintile
Middle quintile
Fourth quintile
Richest quintile
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
CEE/CIS
East Asia and
the Pacific
Middle East and
North Africa
Latin America
and the Caribbean
Eastern and
Southern Africa
West and
Central Africa
South Asia
Least developed
countries
World
Note: Estimates are based on a subset of countries covering around 50 per cent of the global population of women aged 20 to 49 years. Regional estimates represent data covering at least 50 per cent of the regional population.
Data coverage is below 50 per cent for East Asia and the Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean.
In the Dominican Republic and India, the
wealthiest women marry about four years later
than the poorest women
Child marriage is most common in rural areas
Percentage of women aged 20 to 49 years who were married or in union
before age 18, by place of residence
Median age at first marriage or union among women aged 25 to 49 years,
by wealth quintile, in selected countries
Each dot represents a country
100
22 years
90
21.3
21 years
20 years
19.6
19 years
17.0
17 years
Bangladesh
16.3
15.4
Nigeria
60
Rural
17.5
Child marriage is more common in rural areas
70
India
18.3
17.2
15 years
19.7
17.8
18 years
16 years
80
Dominican
Republic
Senegal
50
40
30
Suriname
Togo
Ghana
Guyana
Child marriage is more common in urban areas
20
15.6
15.6
15.0
15.0
15.2
Poorest quintile
Second quintile
Middle quintile
10
0
14 years
Fourth quintile
Peru
Richest quintile
10
20
30
40
50
Urban
60
70
80
90
100
Lifelong – sometimes intergenerational – consequences
Girls who marry are not only denied their childhood. They
are often socially isolated – cut off from family and friends
and other sources of support – with limited opportunities
for education and employment. Households typically make
decisions about girls’ schooling and marriage jointly, not
sequentially, and education tends to lose out. Accordingly,
lower levels of education are found among women who
married in childhood. In Malawi, for instance, nearly two
thirds of women with no formal education were child brides
compared to 5 per cent of women who attended secondary
school or higher levels of education.
pressure to become pregnant once married can be intense,
and child brides typically end up having many children to
care for while still young. In Nepal, for example, over one
third of women aged 20 to 24 who married before their
15th birthday had three or more children compared to 1 per
cent of women who married as adults. Child brides are also
less likely to receive proper medical care while pregnant. In
countries including Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Nepal and Niger,
women who married as adults were at least twice as likely
to have delivered their most recent baby in a health facility
compared to women who married before age 15. This, along
with the fact that girls are not physically mature enough to
give birth, places both mothers and their babies at risk.
Child brides are often unable to effectively negotiate safer
sex, leaving themselves vulnerable to sexually transmitted
infections, including HIV, along with early pregnancy. The
Child brides tend to have low levels of education
Child brides end up having many children to care
for while still young
Percentage of women aged 20 to 49 years who were married or in union
before age 18, by level of education
Percentage of women aged 20 to 24 years who have had three or more
children, by age at first marriage or union, in selected countries
Each dot represents a country
Mozambique
100
Burkina Faso
90
Child marriage is more common
among educated women
Secondary education or higher
80
Mali
Niger
70
Dominican Republic
60
Child marriage is more common
among uneducated women
50
40
30
Sierra Leone
Peru
20
Egypt
Ethiopia
Nepal
Niger
Viet Nam
Uganda
10
Ghana
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Married before age 15
Married at age 18 or older
Peru
Malawi
80
90
Bangladesh
100
0
No education
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Child brides are less likely to receive medical care during pregnancy than women who married as adults
Percentage of women aged 20 to 24 years attended at least four times during pregnancy by any provider, by age at first marriage or union, in selected countries
100
90
98
Married before age 15
Married at age 18 or older
91
84
80
78
72
70
59
60
62
59
53
50
50
43
42
38
40
29
30
23
20
10
16
11
10
0
Ethiopia
Bangladesh
Niger
Nepal
Mali
Egypt
Burkina Faso
Peru
Viet Nam
100
Progress to date
The practice of child marriage is slowly declining. Progress is
most dramatic when it comes to the marriage of girls under
15 years of age. Globally, 1 in 4 young women alive today
were married in childhood versus 1 in 3 in the early 1980s.
The proportion of young women who entered into marriage
before age 15 declined from 12 per cent to 8 per cent over the
same period.
But progress has been uneven across regions and countries.
In the Middle East and North Africa, the percentage of women
married before age 18 has dropped by about half, from 34
per cent to 18 per cent, over the last three decades. In South
Asia, the decline has been especially marked for marriages
involving girls under age 15, dropping from 32 per cent to 17
per cent; the marriage of girls under age 18, however, is still
commonplace. Although rates of child marriage are lower
overall in Latin America and the Caribbean, no significant
change has been seen in the prevalence of child marriage.
In Indonesia and Morocco, the risk of marrying before age 18
is less than half of what it was three decades ago. In Ethiopia,
women aged 20 to 24 are marrying about three years later
than their counterparts three decades ago. However, in some
countries where child marriage is common, including Burkina
Faso and Niger, the median age at first marriage has not
changed significantly.
Globally, the practice of child marriage is declining, especially when it comes to the marriage of girls
under age 15
Percentage of women aged 20 to 24 years who were married or in union before ages 15 and 18
50
Married before age 15
Married after age 15 but before age 18
40
33
31
30
31
31
28
26
20
10
0
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
Note: Estimates are based on a subset of countries covering at least 50 per cent of the global population of women aged 20 to 24 years.
The Middle East and North Africa has made the
fastest progress in reducing child marriage
In Ethiopia, young women are marrying later
than their counterparts three decades ago
Percentage of women aged 20 to 24 years who were married or in union
before age 18, by region
Median age at first marriage or union among women aged 20 to 24 years,
in selected countries
70
20 years
South Asia
60
Ethiopia
19 years
West and Central Africa
18.9
50
Eastern and Southern Africa
18 years
40
18.0
17.9
Burkina Faso
Middle East and North Africa
Latin America and the Caribbean
30
20
17 years
East Asia and the Pacific
16 years
CEE/CIS
10
Niger
15.6
15.8
15.6
15 years
0
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
Note: Estimates are based on a subset of countries covering at least 50 per cent of the global population of
women aged 20 to 24 years. Regional estimates represent data covering at least 50 per cent of the regional
population. Data coverage is below 50 per cent for East Asia and the Pacific region due to the lack of
comparable data on child marriage for China in UNICEF global databases.
14 years
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
Prospects
But that was the past. What does the future hold for present
and future generations of girls?
Of the world’s 1.1 billion girls, 22 million are already married.
Hundreds of millions more are at risk, and the number will
only grow as populations increase. Here are a couple of
possible scenarios:
If there is no reduction in the practice of child marriage, up
to 280 million girls alive today are at risk of becoming brides
by the time they turn 18. Due to population growth, this
number will approach 320 million by 2050. The total number
of women married in childhood will grow from more than
700 million today to approximately 950 million by 2030, and
nearly 1.2 billion by 2050. The number of girls under age 18
married each year will grow from 15 million today to 16.5
million in 2030 to over 18 million in 2050.
However, we know that progress has occurred over the last
three decades. If the current rate of progress is sustained,
the proportion of women married as children will continue to
decrease: from 33 per cent in 1985 to 22 per cent by 2030 and
to 18 per cent by 2050. Despite gains, this rate of decline is
barely fast enough to keep pace with population growth. Even
if progress continues, the total number of women married
as children will still be around 700 million in 2050, although
nearly 490 million girls will have avoided early marriage.
Unless progress is accelerated, the global number of child brides will remain at least as high as it is today
Number of women aged 18 and older who were married or in union before age 18
If prevalence remains at today's levels
If observed decline continues
If progress is accelerated
1.2 billion
720 million
710 million
450 million
Today
2020
2025
2030
2035
2040
2045
2050
If progress is accelerated, there will be 1 in 10 child brides in the world in 2050 compared to 1 in 4 today
Percentage of women aged 20 to 24 years
who were married or in union before age 18
33%
26%
Percentage of women aged 20 to 24 expected to be married or in
union before age 18 if observed decline continues
18%
Percentage of women aged 20 to 24 expected to be married
or in union before age 18 if progress is accelerated
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2015
2020
2025
2030
11%
2035
2040
2045
2050
To reduce the number to under 700 million, progress will
need to accelerate. If the rate of decline seen over the past
three decades is doubled, the total number of women who
married as children would drop to approximately 570 million
by 2030 and 450 million by 2050. We know such progress is
possible since the rate of decline from 2000 is already faster
than the average achieved over the past three decades.
doubling the current rate of decline would not be enough to
reduce the number of child brides.
Sub-Saharan Africa presents the most extreme scenario.
Even if the current pace of progress is maintained, it will
not be fast enough to offset population growth. The number
of women married as children will double by 2050, and the
region will surpass South Asia in having the largest number
of child brides from the current level. In this region, even
In contrast to global trends, some countries have experienced
stagnant or even increasing levels of child marriage. In
Burkina Faso, prevalence has remained constant at around
50 per cent for the past three decades. If this persists, the
number of child brides will increase substantially in the
coming years as the population expands.
In Africa, Nigeria is expected to have the largest absolute
number of child brides. The country has seen a decline in
child marriage of about 1 per cent per year over the past
three decades. At this pace, the total number of child brides
is expected to double by 2050.
Sub-Saharan Africa will have the largest number and global share of child brides by 2050
Number of women aged 20 to 24 years who were married or in union before age 18, according to three scenarios
Prevalence remains at today’s levels
Observed decline continues
Progress is accelerated
90
Rest of world
South Asia
East Asia and the Pacific
Sub-Saharan Africa
11
72
72
Millions
14
34
72
14
14
56
8
28
28
28
10
36
20
6
21
Percentage of women aged 20 to 24
years married or in union before age 18
Burkina Faso
Colombia
1,000,000
Steady around 52%
5,000,000
800,000
43%
4,000,000
33%
28%
600,000
3,000,000
7%
4%
400,000
Steady around 23%
2,000,000
17%
200,000
1,000,000
2050
2045
2040
2035
2030
2025
2020
2015
2010
2005
2000
1995
1990
0
1985
2050
2045
2040
2035
2030
2025
2020
2015
2010
2005
2000
1995
1990
0
1985
2050
Number of women aged 20 to 24 years
married or in union before age 18
Burkina Faso
Colombia
6,000,000
44%
2045
Due to rapid population growth, the number
of child brides in Burkina Faso will increase
dramatically, unlike Colombia
Number of women aged 20 to 24 years
married or in union before age 18
Indonesia
Nigeria
56%
2040
2030
2035
2025
2020
2015
2010
2005
1985
2050
2045
2040
2030
2035
2025
2020
2015
2010
2005
1995
2000
1990
1985
2050
2045
2040
2030
2035
2025
2020
2015
2010
2005
1995
2000
17
9
In Nigeria, a continued decline in child marriage
will not be enough to offset population growth, in
contrast to Indonesia
Percentage of women aged 20 to 24
years married or in union before age 18
Indonesia
Nigeria
1
24
9
1990
1985
9
21
1995
2000
36
12
1990
21
4
Ending child marriage will help
break the intergenerational cycle of
poverty by allowing girls and women
to participate more fully in society.
Empowered and educated girls are
better able to nourish and care for
their children, leading to healthier,
smaller families. When girls are
allowed to be girls, everybody wins.
UNICEF
Data and Analytics Section
Division of Data, Research and Policy
3 United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017, USA
Telephone: +1 212 326 7000
E-mail: data@unicef.org
data.unicef.org
Data sources: UNICEF global databases, 2014, based on Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) and other nationally
representative surveys, 2005-2013. Population data are from: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, World Population
Prospects: The 2012 revision, CD-ROM edition, United Nations, New York, 2013.
Suggested citation: United Nations Children’s Fund, Ending Child Marriage: Progress and prospects, UNICEF, New York, 2014.