For a minute let's take a step back into the past. The norm then was to see young people getting married in their 20s. Girls specifically were betrothed as soon as they have bid goodbye to their teens. Fast forward to the present age, where men and women alike are more concerned about developing their own careers and being successful before actually deciding to settle down. Better put, it points towards the need to settle down professionally than personally, thus resulting in a fall in the marriage rate and a rise in the marriage age.
Call it a lifestyle change or simply a fad that's here to stay, young men and women prefer to cohabit with their partners rather than tying the knot early on in life. Let's just assume the generation dreads the 'M' word and hence runs miles away from it. Another good justification is that people do not wish to compromise on their dreams and aspirations. The result, the average marriage age has constantly been on the rise.
In America alone the trend of late marriages has seen a steady rise. As per statistics, the average marriage age for a woman in the 90s was 23.9 while that for a man was 26.1; this continued to rise for a few years till 2007 to be precise, when it reached 26 years for women and 27 (+/- 2 years) for men. There was a slight drop in the marriage age in 2008, after which the upsurge continued. The average marriage age in America (both North and South America) hovers around 26 years for women and (+/-) 28 years for men.
Marriage, after all, is a close and intimate union between two individuals and should not be imposed on anyone. It is a matter of comfort and personal choice, and one should get into this phase only when one feels they are ready to take the leap. All these apart, here's what the statistics say about the average marriage age.
The list here is a compendium of the statistics of places around the world where the marriage age is relatively high.
Switzerland
Men: 35.6
Women: 32.6Sweden
Men: 32.9
Women: 30.4Libya
Men: 32
Women: 29.2Portugal
Men: 31
Women: 29.5China
Men: 31.1
Women: 29.1Slovakia
Men: 31.9
Women: 28.8France
Men: 31.6
Women: 26.8Canada
Men: 31.1
Women: 28.1Romania
Men: 30.9
Women: 27.5England
Men: 30.7
Women: 28.5Australia
Men: 30.6
Women: 28.6Japan
Men: 30.5
Women: 28.8Singapore
Men: 30
Women: 28.5New Zealand
Men: 29.2
Women: 27.1Belgium
Men: 28.9
Women: 26.6Malaysia
Men: 28
Women: 25.7 Egypt
Men: 27.9
Women: 27Burma
Men: 27.5
Women: 26.4Turkey
Men: 26.7
Women: 23.4India
Men: 26
Women: 22.2
A stark contrast is present in the developed and developing countries. The factors may be many and it pays to note that it is your personal desire to settle down that ultimately matters.
