Prevalence of teenage pregnancy


and developing countries have distinctly different rates of teenage pregnancy. In developed regions, such as United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, teen parents tend to be unmarried, and adolescent pregnancy is seen as a social issue.
By contrast, teenage parents in developing regions such as Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Pacific Islands are often married, and their pregnancy may be welcomed by family and society. However, in these societies, early pregnancy may combine with malnutrition and poor health care to cause long-term medical problems for both the mother and child. A report by Save the Children found that, annually, 13 million children are born to women under age 20 worldwide. More than 90% of these births occur to women living in developing countries. Complications of pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of mortality among women between the ages of 15 and 19 in such areas, as they are the leading cause of mortality among older women.
The age of the mother is determined by the easily verified date when the pregnancy ends, not by the estimated date of conception. Consequently, the statistics do not include women who first became pregnant before their 20th birthdays, if those pregnancies did not end until on or after their 20th birthdays.

Rates by continent

Africa

The highest rate of teenage pregnancy in the world — 143 per 1,000 girls aged 15–19 years — is in sub-Saharan Africa. Women in Africa, in general, get married at a much younger age than women elsewhere — leading to earlier pregnancies. In Nigeria, according to the Health and Demographic Survey in 1992, 47% of women aged 20–24 were married before 15, and 87% before 18. Also, 53% of those surveyed had given birth to a child before the age of 18. African countries have the highest rates of teenage birth According to data from World Bank, as of 2015, the highest incidence of births among 15- to 19-year-old girls was in Niger, Mali, Angola, Guinea, and Mozambique.
A Save the Children report identified 10 countries where motherhood carried the most risks for young women and their babies. Of these, 9 were in sub-Saharan Africa, and Niger, Liberia, and Mali were the nations where girls were the most at-risk. In the 10 highest-risk nations, more than one in six teenage girls between the ages of 15 and 19 gave birth annually, and nearly one in seven babies born to these teenagers died before the age of one year.

Asia

The rate of early marriage is higher in rural regions than it is in urbanized areas. Fertility rates in South Asia range from 71 to 119 births a trend towards increasing age at marriage for both sexes. In South Korea and Singapore, although the occurrence of sexual intercourse before marriage has risen, rates of adolescent childbearing are low at 4 to 8 per 1000. The rate of early marriage and pregnancy has decreased sharply in Indonesia; however, it remains high in comparison to the rest of Asia.
Surveys from Thailand have found that a significant minority of unmarried adolescents are sexually active. Although premarital sex is considered normal behavior for males, particularly with prostitutes, it is not always regarded as such for females. Most Thai youth reported that their first sexual experience, whether within or outside of marriage, was without contraception. The adolescent fertility rate in Thailand is relatively high at 60 per 1000. 25% of women admitted to hospitals in Thailand for complications of induced abortion are students. The Thai government has undertaken measures to inform the nation's youth about the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancy.
According to the World Health Organization, in several Asian countries including Bangladesh and Indonesia, a large proportion of deaths among female adolescents can be attributed to maternal causes.

Australia

In 2015, the birth rate among teenage women in Australia was 11.9 births per 1,000 women. The rate has fallen from 55.5 births per 1,000 women in 1971, probably due to ease of access to effective birth control, rather than any decrease in sexual activity.

Europe

The overall trend in Europe since 1970 has been a decrease in the total fertility rate, an increase in the age at which women experience their first birth, and a decrease in the number of births among teenagers.
The rates of teenage pregnancy may vary widely within a country. For instance, in the United Kingdom, the rate of adolescent pregnancy in 2002 was as high as 100.4 per 1000 among young women living in the London Borough of Lambeth, and as low as 20.2 per 1000 among residents in the Midlands local authority area of Rutland. In Italy, the teenage birth rate in central regions is only 3.3 per 1,000, but, in the south in Mezzogiorno it is 10.0 per 1000.
Teenage birth is often associated with economic and social issues: such as alcohol and drug misuse and, across 13 nations in the European Union, women who gave birth as teenagers were twice as likely to be living in poverty, compared with those who first gave birth when they were over 20.

Bulgaria and Romania

and Bulgaria have some of the highest teenage birth rates in Europe. As of 2015, Bulgaria had a birth rate of 37/1.000 women aged 15-19, and Romania of 34. Both countries also have very large Romani populations, who have an occurrence of teenage pregnancies well above the local average.
In recent years, the number of teenage mothers is declining in Bulgaria.

Netherlands

The Netherlands has a low rate of births and abortions among teenagers. Compared with countries with higher teenage birth rates, the Dutch have a higher average age at first intercourse and increased levels of contraceptive use.

Nordic countries

, such as Denmark and Sweden, also have low rates of teenage birth. However, Norway's birth rate is slightly higher and Iceland has a birth rate of 19 per 1,000 women aged 15–19 . These countries have higher abortion rates than the Netherlands.

Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal

In some countries, such as Italy and Spain, the rate of adolescent pregnancy is low. These two countries also have low abortion rates and their teenage pregnancy rates are among the lowest in Europe. However, Greece and Portugal have higher rates of teenage pregnancy.

United Kingdom

In 2018, conception rates for under 18-year-olds in England and Wales declined by 6.1% to 16.8 conceptions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 17 years. Since 1999, conception rates for women aged under 18 years have decreased by 62.7%.

The Americas

Canada

The Canadian teenage birth rate in 2002 was 16 per 1000 and the teenage pregnancy rate was 33.9. According to data from Statistics Canada, the Canadian teenage pregnancy rate has trended towards a steady decline for both younger and older teens in the period between 1992-2002. Canada's highest teen pregnancy rates occur in small towns located in rural parts of peninsular Ontario. Alberta and Quebec have high teen pregnancy rates as well.

Colombia

In 2016, the Minister of Health and Social Protection of Colombia, Alejandro Gaviria Uribe announced that "teenage pregnancy decreased by two percentage points breaking the growing tendency that had been seen since the nineties".

United States

In 2013, the teenage birth rate in the United States reached a historic low: 26.6 births per 1,000 women aged 15–19. More than three-quarters of these births are to adult women aged 18 or 19. In 2005 in the U.S., the majority of teen pregnancies resulted in a live birth, 27% ended in an induced abortion, and 16% in a fetal loss.
The U.S. teen birth rate was 53 births per 1,000 women aged 15–19 in 2002, the highest in the developed world. If all pregnancies, including those that end in abortion or miscarriage, are taken into account, the total rate in 2000 was 75.4 pregnancies per 1,000 girls. Nevada and the District of Columbia have the highest teen pregnancy rates in the U.S., while North Dakota has the lowest. Over 80% of teenage pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended; approximately one third end in abortion, one third end in spontaneous miscarriage, and one third will continue their pregnancy and keep their baby.
However, the trend is decreasing: in 1990, the birth rate was 61.8, and the pregnancy rate 116.9 per thousand. This decline has manifested across all races, although teenagers of African-American and Latino descent retain a higher rate, in comparison to that of European-Americans and Asian-Americans. The Guttmacher Institute attributed about 25% of the decline to abstinence and 75% to the effective use of contraceptives.
Within the United States teen pregnancy is often brought up in political discourse. The goal to limit teen pregnancy is shared by Republicans and Democrats, though avenues of reduction are usually different. Many Democrats cite teen pregnancy as proof of the continuing need for access to birth control and sexual education, while Republicans often cite a need for returning to conservative values, often including abstinence.
An inverse correlation has been noted between teen pregnancy rates and the quality of education in a state. A positive correlation, albeit weak, appears between a city's teen pregnancy rate and its average summer night temperature, especially in the Southern U.S..

Statistics

World Development Indicator

The birth rate for women aged 15–19 is one of the World Bank's World Development Indicators. The data for most countries and a variety of groupings are published regularly, and can be viewed or downloaded from a United Nations website.

UN Statistics Division, live birth 2009

Per 1,000 women 15–19 years old:
CountryTeenage birth rate
per 1000 women 15–19
Year
South Korea1.82009
Hong Kong3.52009
Switzerland4.12009
Japan4.92009
Singapore7.22009
Netherlands5.32009
Slovenia5.42009
Denmark5.52009
Sweden5.92009
Cyprus6.02009
Tunisia6.02007
Italy6.82005
Luxembourg7.12009
Norway9.52009
Germany9.82008
France10.22008
Austria10.42009
Faeroe Islands10.52007
Greece11.62009
Czech Republic11.82009
Spain12.22009
Croatia13.02009
Israel13.42009
Bahrain13.72008
Malaysia13.92008
Canada14.22008
Kuwait14.42008
Albania14.52004
Iceland14.52009
Bosnia and Herzegovina14.92009
Portugal15.32009
Qatar15.92009
Poland16.22009
Ireland16.32009
Australia16.52009
Lithuania16.92009
Tonga17.52003
Bermuda17.72009
Maldives18.02009
Mongolia19.32008
Hungary19.52009
Martinique19.82007
North Macedonia19.92009
Malta20.22009
Pakistan20.32005
Estonia20.42009
Latvia20.82009
Uzbekistan21.12000
Sri Lanka21.22006
Serbia21.72009
Slovakia21.82009
Belarus21.92006
Montenegro22.52009
UK25.02009
Guadeloupe25.52003
Moldova27.02009
Armenia27.62009
Morocco28.32001
Ukraine29.32007
New Zealand29.42009
Fiji29.72004
Russia30.22009
Palau30.82005
Kazakhstan31.12008
Kyrgyzstan31.22009
Egypt31.22009
Netherlands Antilles31.72007
Mauritius31.92009
Cayman Islands34.12009
Bhutan36.52005
Georgia36.62006
Liberia37.42008
Aruba39.32009
Romania39.32009
Azerbaijan41.42009
United States41.52008
Timor-Leste42.22004
Saint Lucia43.92005
Réunion44.12007
Dominica45.82006
Bulgaria46.72009
Cuba50.52009
Namibia51.22001
Grenada53.12000
US Virgin Islands53.12007
Puerto Rico54.62008
Chile54.92008
Uruguay58.82007
Greenland63.02009
Costa Rica63.02009
Suriname65.52007
Argentina67.72009
Swaziland71.02007
El Salvador73.92007
French Guiana83.32007
Panama88.42009
Malawi101.52008
Venezuela101.82007
Senegal115.62002

UN Statistics Division, estimates 1995-2010

Per 1,000 women 15–19 years old, source:
Country1995–20002000–20052005–2010
Afghanistan212.4161.2118.7
Albania11.817.417.9
Algeria11.88.57.3
Angola215.1201.0171.1
Argentina69.860.756.9
Armenia53.037.935.7
Aruba47.341.133.4
Australia19.216.716.5
Austria14.613.512.8
Azerbaijan41.033.633.8
Bahamas61.944.031.8
Bahrain17.915.714.9
Bangladesh130.5105.978.9
Barbados56.242.142.6
Belarus33.223.922.1
Belgium22.716.114.2
Belize106.391.278.7
Benin123.3117.4111.7
Bhutan75.058.350.2
Bolivia86.984.478.2
Bosnia and Herzegovina27.018.216.4
Botswana73.361.252.1
Brazil89.786.075.6
Brunei Darussalam28.826.225.1
Bulgaria50.644.842.8
Burkina Faso136.2130.4124.8
Burundi40.129.018.6
Cambodia53.345.441.8
Cameroon142.8136.2127.8
Canada20.115.014.0
Cape Verde105.894.781.6
Central African Republic134.4122.5106.6
Chad193.4189.6164.5
Channel Islands13.811.99.9
Chile66.961.658.3
China6.88.28.4
Hong Kong5.04.03.2
Macao6.14.03.0
Colombia91.795.774.3
Comoros66.563.658.0
Republic of the Congo130.2130.5118.7
Costa Rica86.976.465.6
Côte d'Ivoire136.4134.9129.4
Croatia17.814.413.5
Cuba67.950.345.2
Cyprus13.17.26.6
Czech Republic16.711.411.1
North Korea1.41.00.7
Democratic Republic of the Congo242.0230.6201.4
Denmark8.06.66.0
Djibouti31.128.822.9
Dominican Republic111.0109.6108.7
Ecuador85.484.582.8
Egypt58.852.546.6
El Salvador111.591.982.7
Equatorial Guinea133.9128.8122.9
Eritrea98.783.266.6
Estonia30.522.322.7
Ethiopia111.597.272.4
Fiji45.841.545.2
Finland9.613.19.3
France7.28.07.2
French Guiana120.8103.182.7
French Polynesia61.355.651.1
Gabon130.1107.189.9
Gambia130.9102.876.6
Georgia60.548.544.7
Germany12.810.47.9
Ghana90.179.971.1
Greece11.710.711.6
Grenada61.551.242.4
Guadeloupe21.820.119.5
Guam78.254.551.5
Guatemala121.1115.4107.2
Guinea174.4165.7157.4
Guinea-Bissau147.3130.6111.1
Guyana73.982.468.3
Haiti61.852.546.4
Honduras114.6102.593.1
Hungary27.018.516.5
Iceland23.517.314.6
India116.198.686.3
Indonesia47.849.145.1
Iran48.433.529.5
Iraq57.171.298.0
Ireland19.019.017.5
Israel17.716.014.0
Italy7.07.06.7
Jamaica93.585.477.3
Japan4.45.85.0
Jordan40.631.026.5
Kazakhstan40.028.430.0
Kenya105.7104.2100.2
Kuwait26.916.113.8
Kyrgyzstan37.631.534.1
Laos55.552.039.0
Latvia21.916.618.0
Lebanon32.019.816.2
Lesotho94.089.673.5
Liberia152.2146.1142.6
Libya4.73.83.2
Lithuania32.220.619.7
Luxembourg10.111.810.1
Madagascar155.1149.5134.3
Malawi160.9159.1119.2
Malaysia15.015.214.2
Maldives46.623.012.2
Mali190.9189.5186.3
Malta16.516.217.3
Martinique26.025.122.5
Mauritania96.588.079.2
Mauritius36.336.535.4
Mayotte86.0106.0102.5
Mexico77.874.470.6
Federated States of Micronesia44.834.325.4
Mongolia32.821.820.8
Montenegro23.420.918.2
Morocco27.119.515.1
Mozambique117.0176.4149.2
Myanmar23.719.316.3
Namibia90.481.774.4
Nepal129.1119.9103.4
Netherlands6.27.15.1
Netherlands Antilles43.536.731.7
New Caledonia16.319.020.0
New Zealand31.527.130.9
Nicaragua132.6119.4112.7
Niger220.6213.5207.1
Nigeria135.2127.2118.3
Norway12.69.69.0
Occupied Palestinian Territory96.571.453.5
Oman43.218.19.2
Pakistan60.041.331.6
Panama93.289.082.6
Papua New Guinea75.671.066.9
Paraguay91.982.372.3
Peru70.561.554.7
Philippines49.153.954.1
Poland20.414.914.8
Portugal20.720.216.8
Puerto Rico72.465.053.8
Qatar24.218.616.2
South Korea3.02.22.3
Republic of Moldova58.137.433.8
Réunion23.436.044.7
Romania41.935.032.0
Russian Federation35.727.930.0
Rwanda53.544.738.7
Saint Lucia69.862.061.7
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines76.164.658.9
Samoa45.436.828.3
Sao Tome and Principe94.680.066.1
Saudi Arabia37.320.611.6
Senegal112.4107.7105.9
Serbia28.025.822.1
Sierra Leone150.9143.4143.7
Singapore8.07.04.8
Slovakia27.420.720.2
Slovenia12.88.55.0
Solomon Islands71.170.170.3
Somalia72.571.970.1
South Africa80.670.759.2
Spain8.110.312.7
Sri Lanka28.027.923.6
Sudan87.173.661.9
Suriname50.844.839.5
Swaziland109.4102.483.9
Sweden8.98.16.0
Switzerland5.75.34.6
Syrian Arab Republic51.945.542.8
Tajikistan35.831.528.4
North Macedonia33.426.322.0
Thailand45.843.643.3
Timor-Leste71.970.165.8
Togo93.978.965.3
Tonga22.521.322.3
Trinidad and Tobago42.135.434.7
Tunisia8.46.55.7
Turkey52.042.839.2
Turkmenistan17.823.019.5
Uganda191.0172.5149.9
Ukraine43.029.530.8
United Arab Emirates27.624.926.7
United Kingdom31.027.029.6
Tanzania133.3132.0130.4
United States of America50.543.141.2
United States Virgin Islands51.937.629.2
Uruguay67.363.561.1
Uzbekistan41.514.313.8
Vanuatu62.058.154.0
Venezuela94.192.189.9
Vietnam27.125.826.8
Western Sahara56.532.721.4
Yemen109.191.278.8
Zambia143.1159.6146.8
Zimbabwe106.375.264.6
World66.860.455.7

Birth and abortion rates, 1996

Per 1000 women 15–19, source:
Countrybirth rateabortion ratecombined rate% aborted
Netherlands7.73.911.633.6
Spain7.54.912.439.5
Italy6.96.713.350.4
Greece12.21.313.59.6
Belgium9.95.215.134.4
Germany13.05.318.328.9
Finland9.89.619.449.5
Ireland16.74.621.321.6
France9.413.222.658.4
Denmark8.215.423.665.3
Sweden7.717.725.469.7
Norway13.618.331.957.4
Czech Republic20.112.432.538.2
Iceland21.520.642.148.9
Slovakia30.513.143.630
Australia20.123.94454.3
Canada22.322.144.449.8
Israel32.014.346.330.9
United Kingdom29.621.350.941.8
New Zealand33.422.555.940.3
Hungary29.930.260.150.2
Romania40.037.977.948.7
United States55.630.285.835.2