Bangladesh has highest number of child marriages in South Asia

Bangladesh is still at the top in child marriage among South Asian countries. According to the World Population Situation-2023 report, 51 percent of girls in the country are getting married before the age of 18.

A report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) titled '8 billion lives, infinite possibilities' was released globally on April 19. There, the report was prepared based on the data on child marriage from 2006 to 2022.

In terms of child marriage in the world, the position of Bangladesh has moved up by one step and stands at the fifth place. Bangladesh was ranked sixth in last year's report. In the new report, the position of West African country, Burkina Faso is also fifth along with Bangladesh.

Five other African countries occupy the top four positions. Niger has the highest rate of child marriage. The rate of child marriage in that country is 76 percent. The Central African Republic and Chad are jointly in second  position with a child marriage rate of 61 percent. It is followed by Mali (54 percent), Mozambique (53 percent) and South Sudan (52 percent). No child marriage found in Singapore, South Korea, Finland, Norway, Belgium, Lithuania and the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland.

Bangladesh representative of UNFPA, Kristine Blokhus, said that Bangladesh has the highest number of child marriages in South Asia. In Bangladesh, girls aged 15 to 19 give birth to 74 children per thousand. Child marriage increases the risk of maternal and newborn mortality.