Share of women who were married by age 18 by country

Women aged 20-24, who were married or in a union before they reached the age of 18.

Countries reporting
31
Highest
48.5%
Mali
Lowest
5.5%
Rwanda
Median
25.8%
Years covered
40
1986–2025
Data points
217

What the numbers show

Share of women who were married by age 18 is currently reported for 31 countries. The highest value is 48.5% in Mali; the lowest is 5.5% in Rwanda.

The median across all reporting countries is 25.8%, and the mean is 26.0%.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 9.

Over the past decade 6 countries rose and 25 fell. The largest increase was in Jordan (up 17.9%), and the largest decrease in Haiti (down 50.2%).

Share of women who were married by age 18: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Mali 48.5% 2024 down 18.6% falling
2 Mozambique 48.4% 2023 up 0.4% falling
3 Bangladesh 47.2% 2025 down 19.5% falling
4 Madagascar 38.8% 2021 down 19.5% rising
5 Malawi 38.7% 2024 down 8.1% falling
6 Burkina Faso 38.2% 2021 down 26.0% falling
7 Nepal 34.9% 2022 down 14.3% falling
8 Uganda 34.0% 2016 down 26.6% falling
9 Zimbabwe 33.7% 2019 up 10.5% flat
10 Nigeria 33.4% 2024 down 22.0% falling
11 Dominican Republic 31.5% 2019 down 20.5% flat
12 Senegal 30.2% 2023 up 1.3% falling
13 Cameroon 29.8% 2018 down 22.4% falling
14 Tanzania 29.1% 2022 down 6.4% falling
15 Benin 27.5% 2022 down 13.8% falling
16 Cote d'Ivoire 25.8% 2021 down 22.3% falling
17 Zambia 23.9% 2024 down 23.9% falling
18 Colombia 23.4% 2015 up 1.3% flat
19 India 22.3% 2021 down 49.9% falling
20 Cambodia 17.9% 2022 down 2.7% falling
20 Peru 17.9% 2024 down 6.3% falling
22 Indonesia 16.3% 2017 down 25.9% falling
23 Ghana 16.1% 2022 down 22.2% falling
24 Egypt 15.8% 2021 down 4.8% falling
25 Haiti 14.9% 2017 down 50.2% falling
26 Turkey 14.7% 2018 up 5.0% falling
27 Bolivia 14.5% 2023 down 33.2% falling
28 Kenya 12.5% 2022 down 45.4% falling
29 Jordan 9.9% 2023 up 17.9% falling
30 Philippines 9.4% 2022 down 37.3% falling
31 Rwanda 5.5% 2020 down 32.1% falling

About this data

Indicator
Share of women who were married by age 18
Unit
% of women ages 20-24
Source
UNICEF and The DHS Program (ICF), via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
31 places, 217 data points, 1986–2025
Last refreshed

Women aged 20-24, who were married or in a union before they reached the age of 18.