Teenage conception

After the introduction of free contraception on the NHS in 1975, teenage conception rates for the 15-19 age group steadily declined, reaching the lowest recorded figure in 1983. Later in the 1980s that downward trend reversed. Between 1983 and 1990 in England and Wales the rate rose by 23%. Rates fell again in the early 1990s but rose between 1995 and 1998. Since 1998 the conception rate amongst 15-19 year olds has started to decline, falling overall by 8% to 2005.

The conception rate for 13-15 year olds has followed much the same pattern as for older teenagers, but usually with less marked variation.   Between 1998 and 2005, however, the conception rate for under 16s has fallen by 13%.

Between 1998 and 2005 there was also a fall of 12% in conception rates amongst under 18s from 47.1 per thousand to 41.7 per thousand.

In 2004, the latest year for which statistics are available, 60.3 in every thousand 15-19 year olds became pregnant in England and Wales. In Scotland, the rate per thousand 16-19 year olds was 68.2 in 2003/04, the latest full year for which figures are available.

The rate of conceptions amongst 13-15 year olds was 7.5 in every thousand in England and Wales in 2004 and 7.5 per thousand in Scotland in 2003/04.

Conception data is not collected in Northern Ireland because no abortions are recorded. The only available statistics are for teenage births. In 2005, the most recent year for which full statistics are available, the number of teenage mothers was 1,395 a rate of 21.7 per thousand 15-19 year olds.

For more information download the Brook factsheet Teenage Conceptions: Statistics And Trends