Child Marriage in Mozambique

Highlights

Child marriage is defined as any formal marriage or informal union between a child under the age of 18 and an adult or another child.

Preventing and responding to child marriage contributes to SDG Target 5.3, to eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early, and forced marriage, and female genital mutilation.

Mozambique is among the countries with the highest prevalence of child marriage in the world, with 48.4 per cent of women in Mozambique aged 20–24 first married or in a union before the age of 18, and 12.9 per cent before the age of 15.1 Rates of child marriage vary across the country with higher rates in the central and northern regions.

Publication date

February 2025

Languages

English