Child Welfare · Africa ranking
Child Marriage by African country
Niger has the highest share of women married before age 18 of any African country, at 76.3% — 1.3× Central African Republic's 61%.
Share of women aged 20-24 who were first married or in union before age 18 (UNICEF). 51 of 54 countries, ranked · UNICEF CHILD WELFARE, 2012.
Latest available year varies by country (2006–2025); each row shows its year, and values more than 5 years behind the most recent are marked ⚠.
Niger
Central African Republic
ChadBy region
Full ranking
| # | Country | Child Marriage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niger | 76.3% ⚠ ’12 | |
| 2 | Central African Republic | 61% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 3 | Chad | 60.6% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 4 | South Sudan | 51.5% ⚠ ’10 | |
| 5 | Burkina Faso | 51.3% ⚠ ’15 | |
| 6 | Mali | 48.5% | |
| 7 | Mozambique | 48.4% | |
| 8 | Guinea | 46.5% ⚠ ’18 | |
| 9 | Somalia | 45.3% ⚠ ’06 | |
| 10 | Eritrea | 40.7% ⚠ ’10 | |
| 11 | Ethiopia | 40.3% ⚠ ’16 | |
| 12 | Madagascar | 38.8% | |
| 13 | Malawi | 38.7% | |
| 14 | Mauritania | 36.6% | |
| 15 | Sudan | 34.2% ⚠ ’14 | |
| 16 | Uganda | 34% ⚠ ’16 | |
| 17 | Zimbabwe | 33.7% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 18 | Nigeria | 33.4% | |
| 19 | Senegal | 30.2% | |
| 20 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 29.9% | |
| 21 | Cameroon | 29.8% ⚠ ’18 | |
| 22 | Sierra Leone | 29.6% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 23 | Equatorial Guinea | 29.5% ⚠ ’11 | |
| 24 | Tanzania | 29.1% | |
| 25 | Sao Tome and Principe | 28% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 26 | Benin | 27.5% | |
| 27 | Republic of the Congo | 27.3% ⚠ ’15 | |
| 28 | Cote d'Ivoire | 25.8% | |
| 29 | Guinea-Bissau | 25.7% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 30 | Liberia | 24.9% ⚠ ’20 | |
| 31 | Togo | 24.8% ⚠ ’17 | |
| 32 | Zambia | 23.9% | |
| 33 | Angola | 23.1% | |
| 34 | Gambia | 23.1% ⚠ ’20 | |
| 35 | Comoros | 20.7% | |
| 36 | Burundi | 19% ⚠ ’17 | |
| 37 | Ghana | 16.1% | |
| 38 | Egypt | 15.8% | |
| 39 | Morocco | 13.7% ⚠ ’18 | |
| 40 | Lesotho | 13.4% | |
| 41 | Gabon | 13.3% | |
| 42 | Kenya | 12.5% | |
| 43 | Cabo Verde | 8.4% ⚠ ’18 | |
| 44 | Namibia | 6.9% ⚠ ’13 | |
| 45 | Djibouti | 6.5% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 46 | Rwanda | 5.5% ⚠ ’20 | |
| 47 | Libya | 4.1% | |
| 48 | Algeria | 3.8% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 49 | South Africa | 3.6% ⚠ ’16 | |
| 50 | Tunisia | 2.4% | |
| 51 | Eswatini | 1.9% |
South Sudan
Burkina Faso
Mali
Mozambique
Guinea
Somalia
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Madagascar
Malawi
Mauritania
Sudan
Uganda
Zimbabwe
Nigeria
Senegal
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Cameroon
Sierra Leone
Equatorial Guinea
Tanzania
Sao Tome and Principe
Benin
Republic of the Congo
Cote d'Ivoire
Guinea-Bissau
Liberia
Togo
Zambia
Angola
Gambia
Comoros
Burundi
Ghana
Egypt
Morocco
Lesotho
Gabon
Kenya
Cabo Verde
Namibia
Djibouti
Rwanda
Libya
Algeria
South Africa
Tunisia
EswatiniGet this ranking via API
One call to /v1/data returns the latest Child Marriage figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=child_marriage_women_20_24_pct&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Cite or republish this ranking
Data: Africa API — UNICEF CHILD WELFARE, 2012. Free to republish with a link to this page. Pull the live figures via the API above so your version never goes stale.
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Frequently asked questions
Which African country has the highest share of women married before age 18?
Niger has the highest share of women married before age 18 in Africa at 76.3% (2012), followed by Central African Republic and Chad.
Which African country has the lowest share of women married before age 18?
Eswatini has the lowest share of women married before age 18 of the 51 African countries with data, at 1.9% (2022).
How many African countries report Child Marriage data?
51 of 54 African countries have a Child Marriage figure in the Africa API, each from the latest year available for that country (which can differ between countries, here 2006–2025). Every value links to its full series with source and history.
How do I get this ranking via API?
Call GET /v1/data?metric_key=child_marriage_women_20_24_pct&latest=true with the country codes you need and a free Africa API key — the response returns the latest value per country as JSON.
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