Understanding the scale of child marriage

This note offers a range of commonly used figures to discuss the scale of child marriage and highlights some comparisons that can help to make these large numbers meaningful to a wider audience, as well as notes of caution to bear in mind while using them.

The summary draws on data released by UNICEF in July 2014, which includes projections on the number of girls and women who will be affected child marriage if the international community fails to act.