Age at First Marriage by Country 2026

Countries With the Youngest Average Marriage Ages

The world’s youngest average marriage ages are concentrated primarily in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Pacific.

Countries such as Niger, Liberia, Tanzania, Nigeria, Chad, Mali, and Uganda all report average first-marriage ages in the low 20s. Similar patterns also appear in countries like Nepal, Laos, Cambodia, and Papua New Guinea.

In many of these countries, women marry several years earlier than men on average, contributing to some of the largest gender marriage-age gaps in the dataset.

Countries Where People Marry Later in Life

Later first marriages are most common across Europe, parts of East Asia, and several higher-income countries elsewhere in the world.

Spain reports the latest average first marriage age in the dataset at nearly 40 years old, followed closely by Chile, the Netherlands, Norway, Argentina, and Ireland. Countries such as Sweden, Germany, France, Italy, Denmark, and South Korea also show first-marriage averages well into the 30s.

In many of these countries, delayed marriage is associated with longer education periods, career prioritization, urban living, and later family formation overall.

Countries With Large Marriage Age Gaps Between Men and Women

In some countries, the average age at first marriage differs substantially between men and women, with men typically marrying several years later.

These are Mauritania, Guinea, Eritrea, Senegal, South Sudan, Syria, Jordan, Sudan, Gambia, Morocco, Egypt, Yemen, Mali, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Somalia, Chad, Cameroon, Guinea-Bissau, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Countries Where Women Marry Particularly Late

In a number of countries, women now marry for the first time well into their 30s on average, reflecting broader global trends toward delayed marriage.

These countries include Spain, Chile, Netherlands, Norway, Argentina, Ireland, Uruguay, Saint Lucia, Germany, Sweden, Jamaica, Italy, Finland, France, Barbados, Iceland, Portugal, Brazil, Denmark, and Mauritius.