Marriage Trends

Is Pakistan’s urban–rural marriage-age gap changing over time?

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Answer

Direct answer

PDHS 2017–18 shows a current difference: women aged 25–49 had a median age at first marriage of 21.3 in urban areas and 19.8 in rural areas; for men aged 30–49, the medians were 26.8 and 25.0. That does not by itself show whether the gap widened or narrowed. A trend requires the same residence categories and age cohorts from earlier PDHS waves, with attention to changing urban boundaries and population composition. The safest conclusion is that an urban–rural gap existed, not that its direction changed.

Evidence

Sources used

National Survey · 2019

Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2017–18

National Institute of Population Studies and The DHS Program

National survey evidence for marriage timing, women, households and health indicators.View source
Official Statistics · 2025

National Census Report 2023

Pakistan Bureau of Statistics

Official census report defining marital-status categories and reporting national and provincial distributions.View source
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