Nearly Half of Bangladesh's Young Women Married Before 18 as UNICEF Urges Action

47.2% married before adulthood, with sharp gaps in wealth and schooling

Nearly half of women aged 20 to 24 in Bangladesh were first married before their 18th birthday, according to the Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2025. The national figure, 47.2%, rises to 62.5% among the poorest households and 58.2% in Rajshahi division, showing how unevenly the pressures behind child marriage fall across the country.

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell called for stronger protection during a visit lasting three days that took her to Korail, Dhaka's largest informal settlement, and to Rohingya refugee communities in Cox's Bazar. Her appeal connected three priorities: keeping girls in school, turning government spending commitments into services, and protecting education for refugee children and the communities hosting them.

The survey also found that 13.4% of women aged 20 to 24 had married before turning 15. For many girls, marriage brings an early end to education, pregnancy during adolescence and fewer opportunities to earn an income or make decisions about their lives, UNICEF said.

Russell, who leads the United Nations children's agency, described education and protection as investments that benefit the whole country.

"Keeping girls in school and providing them with the health, education and protection services they need will deliver a brighter future for them, for their communities, and for Bangladesh," Russell said.

Bangladesh has recorded progress since 2019, when 51.4% of young women had married before 18. The decline to 47.2% amounts to 4.2 percentage points over six years. Marriage before 15 fell from 15.5% to 13.4%, a smaller decline of 2.1 percentage points.

What the survey measures

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics is the author of the survey. Its 2025 survey findings report records women's ages when they first married, alongside detailed information on education, household wealth, residence and other aspects of family life.

The 47.2% figure describes the marriage histories of women who were aged 20 to 24 when surveyed. In everyday terms, about 47 out of every 100 women in that age group had married before adulthood. The same tables show that about 13 out of every 100 had married before their 15th birthday.

Nearly 63,000 households were covered nationwide. The bureau presented the preliminary findings at a national dissemination event in Dhaka on November 16, 2025.

UNICEF's survey publication page, dated November 2025, describes 172 indicators, including 27 connected to the Sustainable Development Goals, the international targets for improving lives by 2030. The survey covers nutrition, mortality, birth registration, marriage and fertility, and includes blood lead testing of mothers and children.

The main dates place the current appeal within a longer effort to reduce child marriage:

• 2019: The earlier survey recorded marriage before 18 among 51.4% of women aged 20 to 24.
• June 26, 2025: Earlier coverage examined Bangladesh's marriage law and the pressures behind the 51.4% figure.
• November 16, 2025: The statistics bureau unveiled preliminary findings from MICS 2025 in Dhaka.
• October 2026: Girls and rights advocates at a Dhaka event called for stronger protection, education and accountability.

Where the pressure is greatest

Rural women aged 20 to 24 were more likely than urban women to have married before 18: 49.4%, compared with 42.5%. The gap is 6.9 percentage points, leaving a substantial burden in both settings.

Rajshahi had the highest share among the eight divisions listed in the survey, at 58.2%. Sylhet had the lowest, at 20.9%. The difference of 37.3 percentage points means marriage before 18 was almost three times as common among young women in Rajshahi as in Sylhet.

Other divisions also recorded high figures: 55.6% in Khulna, 54.6% in Rangpur, 52% in Barishal and 50.4% in Mymensingh. Dhaka stood at 47.3% and Chattogram at 40.7%.

Household wealth marks another large divide. Marriage before 18 affected 62.5% of young women in the poorest fifth of households, compared with 31.5% in the richest fifth. A wealth quintile is one of five equally sized groups used to compare households by their relative economic position.

The poorest group's figure was almost twice that of the richest group, with a gap of 31 percentage points. Even among the wealthiest households, nearly one in three young women had married before 18. Prevention therefore needs both support for families under financial pressure and protection that reaches girls across income groups.

Secondary school is a critical point of pressure

Girls' school attendance becomes much weaker at the upper secondary stage. Among girls of lower secondary school age, the adjusted net attendance rate was 69.2%, while 7.8% were out of school. Among girls of upper secondary school age, the corresponding figures were 55.5% and 30.4%.

The adjusted attendance measure counts children attending the appropriate level or a higher one. Girls outside that measure may still be studying at a lower level, which is why the attendance figure and the out of school figure do not add up to 100%.

The out of school share was almost four times as high among girls of upper secondary age as among those of lower secondary age. For UNICEF's goal of keeping girls in education until they complete secondary school, this is a particularly important stage for support.

Marriage histories also vary sharply by women's education. Among women aged 20 to 24 whose education level was lower secondary, 73.8% had married before 18. The share was 61.5% for secondary education, 25.7% for higher secondary education and 10.1% for higher education.

UNICEF describes a damaging cycle: marriage can push a girl out of school, while interrupted education narrows her choices. Keeping classrooms accessible and helping girls continue learning addresses both their immediate protection and their chances of building an independent adult life.

How one community stopped a marriage

In Korail, Russell met families facing poverty, disrupted schooling and limited access to basic services. Adolescent girls described their ambitions alongside the pressures that could force them to leave education and marry.

Bushra, aged 14, was among the girls whose experiences Russell highlighted. Community leaders working through a UNICEF supported child protection hub intervened with her father to prevent her marriage.

Russell described the intervention after meeting Bushra.

"I met a 14-year-old girl named Bushra, who told me how community leaders at a Unicef-supported child protection hub had worked with Bushra's father to save her from early marriage," Russell said.

The case shows what local protection can involve in practice: identifying a girl at risk, reaching her family and involving people able to help stop the wedding. UNICEF's wider work includes preventing violence, supporting adolescent girls and strengthening social protection for vulnerable families.

Bangladesh's earlier child marriage prevention efforts also focused on poverty, dowry demands, disrupted education and exceptions in marriage law. Those pressures help explain why a legal age limit needs to be backed by functioning schools, family support and people who can intervene locally.

Closing legal gaps and making age verifiable

Bangladesh sets the minimum marriage age at 18 for females and 21 for males. The Child Marriage Restraint Act of 2017 nevertheless permits marriages below those ages under special circumstances. UNICEF has called for loopholes allowing child marriage to be closed.

Russell's appeal combined legal reform with a demand that girls complete secondary education. No timetable for changing the law or details of a proposed amendment accompanied the appeal.

Birth registration is another practical part of protection. The survey report explains that possessing a birth certificate enables a child's age to be verified, helping protect against child marriage, child labour and recruitment into armed forces before the legal age.

A reliable age record gives officials and others responsible for protection a way to check whether a proposed marriage involves a child. Community intervention, as in Bushra's case, provides another route for reaching a family before a wedding takes place.

At an October 2026 event organised by Manusher Jonno Foundation in Dhaka, speakers called for stronger law enforcement and institutional accountability. They identified poverty, insecurity, climate vulnerability and a lack of alternatives as pressures driving marriage.

Girls want choices, safety and accessible education

Adolescent girls at the foundation's event described barriers extending beyond marriage itself. Sadia Akter Eva of Maer Achol, who lives in a shelter home, raised unequal access to school sports. Ayesa Akter, a girl with a visual impairment, called for Braille and audio learning materials so girls with disabilities could participate equally.

Lysa Mahmud Hema, the foundation's assistant project manager, presented education completion figures drawn from studies by UNICEF, UNFPA and the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics: 91.3% at primary level, 75.9% at lower secondary and 41.1% at upper secondary.

Shaheen Anam, the foundation's executive director, urged attention to the opportunities girls actually receive.

"Simply saying that girls will conquer the world is not enough. We must ask how they will achieve that and what opportunities we are creating for them," she said.

An earlier assessment by UNICEF, UN Women and Plan International described the wider pressures on adolescent girls. It found that 24% of young women had given birth before 18, while only 47% of married teenage girls had autonomy over decisions about reproductive health.

The assessment also recorded physical or sexual violence by partners affecting 28% of adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 during the previous year. Fewer than 2% of adolescent girls had digital literacy, limiting access to learning and work opportunities that depend on technology.

Bangladesh's HPV vaccination campaign offers a more encouraging example: it reached 93% of eligible girls, protecting them against a virus that can cause cervical cancer. Russell's appeal seeks similarly broad reach for education, health and protection services.

From a spending pledge to services families can use

Russell met senior government officials, including State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam, and welcomed the commitment to increase education and health spending. She urged action on the government's pledge concerning investment of 5% of gross domestic product in education and health.

Gross domestic product, or GDP, measures the value of goods and services produced by an economy. Expressing spending as a share of GDP shows the scale of a commitment relative to the country's economic output.

Russell linked those budget choices directly to children's lives.

"Budgets reflect priorities. Investing in children's quality education, health, nutrition and protection is investing in Bangladesh's future," she said.

UNICEF's work with the government and partners spans primary health care, immunisation, nutrition, safe water, sanitation, education and child protection. For girls at risk of marriage, these services address connected needs: staying healthy, continuing school and finding help when family or community pressure threatens their safety.

Rohingya children face an education funding squeeze

In Cox's Bazar, Russell met Rohingya children and families and visited a UNICEF supported learning centre. Students and teachers spoke about the value of education and vocational skills, which prepare young people for practical work.

UNICEF says education also helps protect children against exploitation, trafficking, child marriage and recruitment by armed groups. Russell called for international support for both refugees and the Bangladeshi communities that have welcomed them as humanitarian funding declines.

Russell described the urgency of preserving learning for displaced children.

"Rohingya children have lost so much to violence, displacement and uncertainty. They cannot lose their education too. The world must invest in them, and in the communities that welcomed them," she said.

UNICEF and its partners provide education alongside health care, safe water, sanitation, child protection, psychological and social support, and prevention and treatment of malnutrition in Cox's Bazar. Vulnerable host communities also receive support.

Across both refugee settlements and the rest of Bangladesh, Russell's appeal centres on keeping essential services within reach. The survey identifies where marriage before adulthood remains most common; local interventions show how a threatened marriage can be stopped; sustained education and protection give girls more choices after that immediate danger has passed.

Key Points

• Bangladesh's 2025 survey found that 47.2% of women aged 20 to 24 married before 18, down from 51.4% in 2019.
• Marriage before 15 affected 13.4% of women in the same age group.
• The share married before 18 reached 62.5% among the poorest households, compared with 31.5% among the richest.
• Rajshahi recorded 58.2%, compared with 20.9% in Sylhet.
• Among girls of upper secondary school age, 30.4% were out of school.
• UNICEF urged Bangladesh to keep girls in secondary education, close legal loopholes and turn spending commitments into services.
• Russell also called for continued international support for Rohingya children and host communities as humanitarian funding declines.