The Situation Globally, age at first marriage has in general been increasing steadily. The greatest increases in age at first marriage in the developing world have occurred in Asia, the Middle East and some parts of Latin America.
Early marriage is still particularly prevalent in some countries of West Africa and South Asia.
Table 1 shows the percentages of adolescent boys and girls between 15 and 19 who are married in countries with a high incidence of early marriage. It is clear from the figures in Table 1 that most girls who get married, marry men who are older than them. Mali provides a striking example. The younger the bride, the larger the age gap between spouses tends to be. These include Bangladesh, Nepal, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Yemen.