17 Countries with Highest Child Marriage Rates in the World

2. Central Africa

Situated in the center of Africa and devoid of coastline, the Central African Republic is a thinly inhabited nation encompassing a land area of 623,000 square kilometers. Approximately 650 million girls and women currently in existence experienced marriage before reaching the age of 18, and nearly 60 million of them inhabit Central Africa.

Since the Central African Republic has one of the world’s lowest GDPs, and given the prevalence of poverty in the country, many families opt to marry their daughters in exchange for a bride price, aiming to alleviate the perceived financial strain associated with raising a girl within the family. This has resulted in a situation where 61% of girls in the Central African Republic enter into marriage before reaching 18 years of age, with 26% marrying before the age of 15. Additionally, 28% of boys in the Central African Republic are married before they turn 18.

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