Mean Age at First Marriage (Women)
Mean Age at First Marriage (Women) by country
Commentary
Notable countries
Europe dominates the top of the ranking: Spain has the highest mean age at first marriage for women at 34.9 years, followed closely by Sweden (34.8) and Norway (34.1). At the other end, all of the bottom 10 countries are in Africa, with Niger lowest at 17.5 years and Chad next at 17.9. A notable contrast is that the highest-ranked countries are nearly twice a decade above the lowest-ranked ones, showing a very wide global spread.
Regional trends
Europe has by far the highest continental average at 30.01 years, well ahead of North America at 27.1. South America (25.42), Oceania (24.76), and Asia (24.63) cluster close to the global mean of 25.45, suggesting broadly mid-range marriage ages in those regions. Africa stands apart with the lowest average at 21.85 years, and it also contains every country in the bottom 10.
Data source
The figures come from OWID/DHS/national statistics for 2016-2022, and the unit is years. The dataset covers 196 countries. As the data combine multiple sources and years, cross-country comparisons should be read with some caution.
Interpretation
Higher values mean women marry later on average, while lower values mean earlier first marriage. Later marriage can reflect longer education, later family formation, or different social norms, but the indicator alone does not explain why countries differ. Overall, the data show a strong regional divide, with especially late first marriage in Europe and much earlier averages in parts of Africa.