Child marriage in Nepal falls to 28% over a decade, UNICEF data shows

The share of young women in Nepal who were married before age 18 fell from 37% in 2014 to 28% in 2024-25, and marriage before 15 was cut in half, UNICEF said on 8 October. The figures come from a new UNICEF brief based on Nepal's Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys from 2014, 2019 and 2024-25.

Girls are staying in school longer and marrying later

Marriage before 15 fell from 10% to 5% over the same decade. The median age at first marriage has risen from 17 in 2001 to 19.6, and more girls are staying in school.

Education matters most, the brief finds. Girls who complete secondary school face a much lower risk of marrying before 18, but the girls most at risk are often the ones most likely to leave school early because of poverty.

“These findings show that change is possible and that Nepal has made important progress in reducing child marriage. But progress is not happening quickly enough, and it is not reaching all girls equally.” — Alice Akunga, UNICEF Representative to Nepal

The poorest girls are four times as likely to marry young

The gains are uneven. Poverty remains the strongest predictor of child marriage: girls from the poorest households are now 4.4 times more likely to marry before 18 than girls from the richest. Rates among the poorest have barely moved in recent years, while wealthier families have seen faster change.

UNICEF warns that climate disasters, including the recent floods in Nepal, can raise the risk by disrupting schooling and squeezing household incomes. Nepal is off track to meet its commitment to end child marriage by 2030.

Keeping girls in school is also what helped Amina, a teenage mother in Uganda, return to class.

The brief calls for support aimed at the poorest households, keeping girls in school through adolescence, stronger child protection systems and work on social norms. Its release comes ahead of the International Day of the Girl Child on 11 October, whose theme this year is ending child marriage.