Nepal has made measurable progress against child marriage over the past decade but remains off track to eliminate the practice by 2030, according to a UNICEF advocacy brief reported on 8 October 2026. Drawing on the Nepal Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys for 2024-25 and data from 2014 and 2019, the brief found that the proportion of women aged 20-24 married before age 18 fell from 37 per cent in 2014 to 28 per cent in 2024-25. Marriage before age 15 halved, from 10 per cent to 5 per cent, and the median age at first marriage rose from 17 years in 2001 to 19.6 years in 2024-25.

The gains were uneven. Poverty remained the strongest predictor, with girls from the poorest households 4.4 times more likely to marry before 18 than girls from the richest, and rates among the poorest changed little in recent years. The brief noted that climate-related disasters, including recent floods, can raise the risk by disrupting education and straining household incomes. It also linked secondary education completion to substantially lower risk.

UNICEF called for targeted support for girls from the poorest households, keeping girls in school, stronger child protection systems and action on harmful social norms, with four years left to meet Sustainable Development Goal Target 5.3.