Teen birth rate halves since 2008

Teen birth rate halves since 2008 – Media release

16 May 2017

The teen birth rate has dropped each year since 2008, Stats NZ said today. In 2016, the rate was 16 births per 1,000 women aged 15–19 years – half the 2008 rate of 33.

"The teen birth rate has also fallen across the Tasman, but Australia's rate remains lower than New Zealand's," population statistics senior manager Peter Dolan said.

The teen birth rate in Australia dropped from 18 per 1,000 in 2008 to 12 in 2015, the latest year data is available.

Within the 15–19 age group, birth rates increase with age – from 2 per 1,000 at age 15 to 35 at age 19. All ages in this group had significantly lower rates in 2016 than in 2008.

Just 4 percent of the 59,430 births in 2016 were to teen mums, compared with 8 percent of births in 2008.

In 1962, when birth (or fertility) rates were highest for women in their twenties, the teen birth rate was 54 births per 1,000. While rates dropped for women in their twenties throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the teen rate increased to a peak of 69 per 1,000 in 1972. The teen rate then decreased to 30 per 1,000 in 1984.

Ends

For more information about these statistics:

· Visit Births and Deaths: Years ended December 2016 and March 2017

· See CSV files for download

· Open the attached files

BirthsAndDeathsYeDec16.pdf

bdDec16alltables.xlsx

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