Selim Reza is 30 years old and is a small trader. His wife, Khadiza Khatun, is 19. The age gap between them is therefore 11 years.
Khadiza was married off as a teenager four years ago. The couple was seen on 3 May in Ghorjan Union of Chauhali upazila in Sirajganj, when Selim Reza visited a BRAC health clinic with his wife, who was then pregnant for the third time. At that time, Selim Reza disclosed their ages to this correspondent.
The Char (riverine) area has a high prevalence of child marriage among girls aged 14 to 16. In some cases, the age gap between adolescent brides and their husbands exceeds 10 years, while in other cases it ranges between three and four years.
For example, the motorcycle driver Hridoy, whom this correspondent travelled with from Ghorjan char to the river ghat, is four years older than his wife Morium.
Hridoy is 20 years old. Asked about his early marriage, he said, “We had some trouble. We were in a relationship. So both families arranged the marriage last year.”
Data on age differences between spouses are found in the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and UNICEF Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2025 preliminary report.
According to the report, about 24 per cent of married women aged 15–19 and about 26 per cent of those aged 20–24 have husbands who are 10 years or more older than them.
The BBS survey further shows that 45 per cent of married adolescent girls aged 15–19 have husbands five to nine years older, while 20 per cent have husbands zero to four years older. Only one per cent of cases involve husbands younger than their wives.
According to the BBS Sample Vital Statistics 2023 report, the average age at first marriage for men is above 24 years, while for women it is above 18 years—an average gap of about six years. In extremely poor households, the average age at first marriage is 22 for men and 17 for women, while in wealthy households it is 27 for men and 21 for women.
Md Alamgir Hossen, deputy director (Demography and Health Division, additional charge: focal point, Sample Vital Statistics Project and SDG Cell) at BBS, told Prothom Alo that age differences between husbands and wives are not new in Bangladesh. Due to socio-economic realities, in most cases husbands are five to ten years or more older than their wives, he said.
He added that men typically consider marriage after starting to earn, while girls are often married off at a young age. On one hand, child marriage is occurring; on the other, there is little expectation that girls will marry after becoming economically independent. As a result, husbands tend to be older than their wives.
The age gap has increased
News reports frequently highlight marriages between adolescent girls and older men. For example, according to a report published in Prothom Alo, in November 2020, a 60-year-old man secretly married a 12-year-old girl in Faridpur Sadar upazila. In that case, a mobile court sentenced the man and several of the girl’s relatives for child marriage.
Analysis of three MICS reports shows that the proportion of women whose husbands are 10 years or more older has increased compared to more than a decade ago, though it has decreased compared to seven years ago in both age groups (15–19 and 20–24).
The MICS 2012–13 report showed that the proportion of women aged 15–19 and 20–24 with husbands 10 or more years older was about 20 per cent and 22 per cent respectively. In the MICS 2019 report, this rose to about 31 per cent and 28 per cent respectively. The trend is observed across both rich and poor households.
Violence and health risks
The MICS 2025 report notes that child marriage and large age gaps between spouses increase the risk of violence. It states that child marriage often hampers girls’ development, leading to early pregnancy, social isolation, school dropout, and limited opportunities for employment and career advancement.
In many cases, a significant age gap weakens women’s empowerment and increases the risk of intimate partner violence, sexually transmitted infections, and reduced decision-making autonomy.
Ferdousi Begum, former president of the Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society of Bangladesh (OGSB), also highlighted the health risks of child marriage and huge spousal age gaps.
She told Prothom Alo that a large age gap often leads to a lack of understanding between spouses. In marital life, reproductive health, pregnancy, and the use of contraceptives, women generally have little decision-making power.
Girls become pregnant at a young age. Because their bodies are not fully developed, both maternal and child nutrition suffers. This leads to risks of miscarriage, obstructed labour, high blood pressure during pregnancy, maternal and infant mortality, fistula, and sexually transmitted infections, she said.