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When do people marry or first have sex, and what can surveys measure?
1 Cr = 1,00,00,000 · 1 lakh = 1,00,000. Percentages, years, daily flows and rupees keep their own units. Showing full digits does not increase the source’s precision.
2019–21
Women aged 25–49 represented by NFHS-5
| Group | Value |
|---|---|
| Urban | 20.1 years |
| Rural | 18.2 years |
What this measures: Women aged 25–49 represented by NFHS-5
Retrospective median among this age group, not the average age of newlyweds in 2026.
Official source ↗ · Table 6.3.1, printed p218 / PDF p254
Evidence reviewed 2026-10-16.
2019–21
Men aged 25–49 represented by NFHS-5
What this measures: Men aged 25–49 represented by NFHS-5
Retrospective median. The urban median for men aged 25–49 is suppressed by the report; do not impute it.
Official source ↗ · Table 6.3.2, printed p219 / PDF p255
Evidence reviewed 2026-10-16.
2019–21
Women aged 25–49 represented by NFHS-5
| Group | Value |
|---|---|
| Urban | 20.2 years |
| Rural | 18.5 years |
What this measures: Women aged 25–49 represented by NFHS-5
Self-reported sensitive information; recall and disclosure affect estimates. This is a retrospective median, not an expected age or judgement of anyone’s choices.
Official source ↗ · Table 6.8.1, printed p224 / PDF p260
Evidence reviewed 2026-10-16.
2019–21
Men aged 25–49 represented by NFHS-5
What this measures: Men aged 25–49 represented by NFHS-5
Self-reported sensitive information; recall and disclosure affect estimates. No national count of people having sex inferred.
Official source ↗ · Table 6.8.2, printed p225 / PDF p261
Evidence reviewed 2026-10-16.
2019–21
Women aged 20–24 represented by NFHS-5
What this measures: Women aged 20–24 represented by NFHS-5
Historical NFHS-5 rate for this age group; not the fraction of all current marriages involving a child.
Official source ↗ · India factsheet indicator 25
Evidence reviewed 2026-10-16.
No representative all-India estimate was verified. Dating-app polls, divorce and depression statistics do not measure the same experience.
Evidence needed: A transparent nationally representative study defining heartbreak, period, ages and sampling. This is a data gap, not zero.
No. A retrospective median for NFHS-5 women aged 25–49 describes that survey group’s earlier first marriages in the 2019–21 edition. It does not measure the age of newlyweds in 2026.
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Explanation added 3 November 2026. Statistical reference periods and source-check dates remain those on the underlying records.