Age of consent across Asia

Penal Code §277 (general) sets 15; §279 raises practical exposure to 18 for any 'indecent act' with a person under 18 even with consent. Anti-Trafficking Act 2008 and Criminal Code §317-§327 cover prostitution-of-minor offences with sentences to life imprisonment.

Raised from 12 to 16 by Republic Act 11648 in March 2022 — one of the most significant recent changes in the region. Anti-Trafficking statutes (RA 9208/10364) treat any commercial sex with a person under 18 as trafficking regardless of consent.

Raised from 12 → 16 in March 2022 under RA 11648.

Penal Code 2015 (as amended) Article 145 sets 16. Sexual intercourse with a person 13-16 is criminalised separately from rape; under 13 is automatic rape regardless of consent.

Effectively 18 under the post-2014 Child Protection Law (UU 35/2014) for any sexual activity; pre-2014 the threshold was 15. KUHP 2023 (in force January 2026) Article 411 additionally criminalises extramarital sex regardless of age.

Raised from 13 (which had been in place since 1907) to 16 by the June 2023 Penal Code amendment that came into effect on 13 July 2023 — the largest change to Japanese sexual-offences law in over a century. Prefectural ordinances on compensated dating apply strict-liability prosecution against customers regardless of belief about age.

Raised from 13 → 16 on 13 July 2023.

Penal Code 2009 Article 239. The 2008 Anti-Trafficking law treats any commercial sex with a person under 18 as trafficking regardless of the underlying age-of-consent threshold; foreign tourists face the most aggressive enforcement on this point in the region after the Philippines.

Raised from 13 to 16 by 2020 Penal Code amendment. The 'Adult-and-Junior' (성인보호와 미성년자성보호) framework however operates 20 as the practical age for adult-industry venue entry (mirroring Korea's drinking age). The 2004 Act on Arranging Sexual Traffic prosecutes any commercial sex with anyone under 19 as a child-sex offence.

Raised from 13 → 16 in 2020 for the criminal age of consent.

Criminal Code Article 227. The Children and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act covers commercial sex with anyone under 18 with separate elevated penalties.

Penal Code §376A. The Children and Young Persons Act and the 2007 extraterritorial provision criminalise commercial sex with anyone under 18 globally, prosecuted against Singaporean nationals abroad as well as at home.

Penal Code §375A. Syariah Criminal Offences Acts add a separate framework for Muslim defendants (Khalwat / Zina) that operates on different definitions. The Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 covers any sexual activity with a person under 18.

Crimes Ordinance Cap. 200 §124. The 2018 amendments to the Prevention of Child Pornography Ordinance and the 2021 voyeurism amendments (§159AAA) significantly tightened the surrounding framework. Commercial sex with a person under 18 is prosecuted under §139 (procurement) as well as §124.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 §74 — which replaced Indian Penal Code §375 from 1 July 2024 — sets the general age of consent at 18, a threshold unchanged from the 2013 Criminal Law (Amendment) Act. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012 runs in parallel and treats any sexual activity with a person under 18 as a specific, non-consent-dependent offence with mandatory reporting and enhanced penalties. There is no partner-age-gap exception in Indian law. Commercial sexual activity with anyone under 18 is prosecuted as trafficking under BNS §143 and under POCSO regardless of any claimed consent or payment arrangement.

Criminal Law Article 236 sets the general age of consent at 14; sexual activity with a person under 14 is automatically classified as rape (强奸罪) regardless of any claimed consent, with no partner-age-gap defence. Article 236-1, added by the 2015 amendment, separately criminalises sexual activity with a girl aged 14-18 by a person in a position of trust or authority. Debate over raising the general threshold above 14 has recurred periodically in Chinese legal-academic and NPC circles but no legislative change has followed as of 2026. Commercial sexual activity with anyone under 18 is prosecuted as an aggravated offence under Article 360 and related trafficking provisions with sentences up to life imprisonment.

Penal Code Article 166 sets the age of consent at 14, consistent with the pre-handover Portuguese-derived criminal framework; sexual activity with a person under 14 is treated as an aggravated sexual-assault offence irrespective of consent. Articles 167-168 add graduated protections for the 14-16 and 16-18 age bands where a position of trust, authority, or dependency is involved. There is no separate close-in-age exemption. Commercial sexual activity involving anyone under 18 falls outside the Penal Code Articles 169-171 adult-prostitution framework entirely and is instead prosecuted as an aggravated exploitation and trafficking offence under Article 171 and the Trafficking of Persons Law (Lei 6/2008).

Penal Code §363, as amended (most significantly by Penal Code Amendment Act No. 22 of 1995, which raised the threshold from 12 to 16), sets the statutory age of consent at 16. Statutory rape under §363(e) applies regardless of consent for anyone under 16, with no close-in-age exemption in the statute. Sections 365 and 365A separately criminalise male same-sex activity generally, layering an additional exposure specific to male same-sex encounters regardless of age. Commercial sexual activity with anyone under 18 is prosecuted under the Penal Code's trafficking and procurement provisions (§360A, §362) and the Trafficking in Persons Act No. 3 of 2013, both carrying materially heavier penalties than the general age-of-consent offence.

Penal Code 2017 (Law No. 26/NA) Article 250 sets the age of consent at 15. The 2017 code consolidated and replaced the prior 1989 Penal Law framework (and the superseded 2005 Penal Law, No. 12/NA). There is no documented close-in-age exemption in the Lao statute. Article 260's prostitution offence and Article 215's trafficking provisions both carry aggravated penalties where the person involved is a minor, and any commercial sexual activity with a person under 18 is treated as an aggravated trafficking matter rather than an ordinary Article 260 prostitution offence. Enforcement resources are concentrated in Vientiane; the northern-border special-economic-zone context (Boten) carries a documented, separate minor-trafficking risk profile flagged by UNODC reporting.

Muluki Penal Code 2017 (Muluki Aparadh Sanhita 2074 BS) §219, in force since August 2018, sets the age of consent at 18 — tied with India for the highest general threshold covered by this site. There is no partner-age-gap exemption in the statute. Given Nepal's documented status as South Asia's highest-volume trafficking source country, any commercial sexual encounter involving a person under 18 is treated as an aggravated matter under both the Penal Code and the Human Trafficking and Transportation Control Act 2007 §4, with a trafficking nexus presumed rather than separately proven in border-adjacent cases.

Penal Code 1860 §375, as amended, sets the age of consent at 16; the threshold was raised from a lower colonial-era figure through subsequent amendment. There is no close-in-age exemption. Sections 366A and 366B separately criminalise procuring or importing a girl under 18 for illicit intercourse, and Sections 372-373 criminalise selling or buying minors for prostitution specifically — creating a materially heavier framework for any commercial context than for non-commercial sexual activity. Bangladesh's approximately 11 state-recognised registered brothels require workers to register with an affidavit declaring they are 18 or older, per the 2000 High Court ruling in BNWLA v. Government of Bangladesh; no foreign national is registered within that system.

Criminal Code of Mongolia 2015 Article 12.1 sets the age of consent at 16. The 2015 Code, which replaced the 2002 Criminal Code, contains no documented partner-age-gap exemption. Article 12.6 (compelling prostitution) and the Law on Combating Human Trafficking 2012 both apply aggravated penalties where the person compelled or trafficked is under 18, treating any commercial sexual arrangement involving a minor as a trafficking matter rather than an ordinary prostitution-adjacent offence. Enforcement and public-health infrastructure are concentrated almost entirely in Ulaanbaatar, which holds roughly 1.5 million of Mongolia's 3.4 million population.