SINGAPORE (Reuters Life!) - In Asia, home to some of the world’s booming economies, many women still carry an “expiry date”.

Indian Muslim brides sit during a mass wedding ceremony in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad March 10, 2007. In Asia, home to some of the world's booming economies, many women still carry an "expiry date." REUTERS/Amit Dave

Actress Elizabeth Hurley raised eyebrows last week when she got married at 41 to an Indian businessman in Asia, a region where U.N. statistics show that the age of first marriages ranges between 18 and 28 years.

By comparison, the average age in Europe is between 25 and 30 years and 26 years in the United States.

Strong family and age-old cultural traditions still dictate many social norms in the region, where many women say they feel pressured to get married as soon as they hit their 20s.

The question “when are you getting married?” becomes more frequent as the woman’s education and family income levels decrease, sociologists say.

Hurley wed businessman Arun Nayar in India, a country where most women are married off in their early 20s -- if not before. In Pakistan and Afghanistan, the story is rarely different.

“There is a saying in Java that women have an expiration date and must marry before it,” said Indonesian Mita Valina Liem, a college-educated ethnic Chinese who is still single at 28.

In predominantly Muslim Indonesia, many parents get seriously worried about daughters who are still single at 25. At 35, they often give up hope.

In Vietnam, where traditional family structures are strong, many city girls aim to be married by 25 or soon after they finish college. In the countryside, they tend to marry even sooner.

“There are too many fun things to do in life these days such as pursuing your dream career, besides caring for your family,” said one 28-year-old professional at a Hanoi investment company.

“Unfortunately, in Vietnam we still cannot do both successfully, so one has to choose,” said the woman, who declined to be named. “I would love to have my own child without a husband but my parents would not like that so I wish someday to find a man I love to father my children”.

SINGLE, BUT NO SPINSTER

In Asia, as in other parts of the world, economic prosperity tends to ease the pressure.

In Singapore, a strong economy and modern, hectic lifestyle mean that more and more women are marrying at a later age, if at all. Worried about the declining birth rate, the government offers incentives for couples to have children.

The situation is similar further north, especially in Japan where unmarried women over the age of 25 used to be called “Christmas cake” -- past their best, just like a cream and strawberry pastry popular in the country during the holiday.

But today, Japanese women are increasingly waiting longer to marry. The average age for first marriage rose to around 30 in 2005, up from about 26 in 1992.

South Korean women are cut even more slack. Korean men think the right age for women to get married is before 30 but women believe it is around 31. The cut-off age is around 37.

Lee Mi-kyong, consultant at matchmaking service DUO Marriage Information, said even women in their 30s now feel less obliged to get married as they are more financially independent.

“We refer to spinsters as ‘Gold Miss’ now, meaning they have passed the normal age to get married or that they are well off and independent,” she said, talking about women aged 33 and over.

“Women in their late 20s are more obligated to get married but once they reach their 30s, they start thinking they will get married at their own time. The media are also increasingly portraying single women in their thirties as independent and financially well off,” she added.

But even here, the “old maid” stereotype is still alive and well. Many single South Korean women of any age dread family gatherings where the topic of their marital status is fodder for gossip sessions.

“There is a stereotype that, if you’re in your mid-thirties and not married, there is something wrong with you, or you’ve been through a difficult experience or you’re just unyielding and stubborn,” said Kwon Hyun-min, a marketing specialist in Seoul.

“That’s not a good thing,” she said, adding that the unofficial cut-off age among her friends and colleagues is 35.