Photo: © 2010 AFP/AAP/TIMOTHY A. CLARY

A German study has found that women who married men seven to nine years their junior risked a 20 per cent chance of an early death.

The news was even worse for women who married men more than 15 years younger, with the risk of meeting their maker prematurely up 30 per cent.

Researchers analysed the marriage and death certificates of two million men and women to reach their findings.

"The greater the age difference, the lower the wife’s life expectancy," researcher Sven Drefahl told the Daily Mail.

"The best choice for a woman is to marry a man of exactly the same age."

Ironically, the theory worked in reverse for men, as older men lived longer if they had a young wife.