Story: Sexualities

Teenage pregnancy – international comparisons

In the 2010s New Zealand had one of the highest rates of teenage births of the high-income countries in the OECD. In 2013 New Zealand’s birth rate for women aged 15-19 years was 22 per 1,000 – the fourth highest, behind Turkey, the United States and Slovak Republic.

While the rate of teenage pregnancy is high in New Zealand relative to other OECD countries, the percentage of all births that are to women under 20 years old has dropped dramatically since the 1970s.

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Source: OECD Family Database. Indicator: fertility rates (births per 1000) for 15-19 year olds, 2013

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How to cite this page:

Louisa Allen, 'Sexualities - Young people', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/graph/30862/teenage-pregnancy-international-comparisons (accessed 28 March 2024)

Story by Louisa Allen, published 5 May 2011, reviewed & revised 17 Jul 2018