Number of under-18s becoming pregnant fell to 20-year low during first lockdown

The number under-18s who became pregnant in England and Wales fell by more than a quarter during the first national coronavirus lockdown, figures show.
Generic image of a pregnant womanGeneric image of a pregnant woman
Generic image of a pregnant woman

There were 2,600 conceptions to under-18s between April and June 2020, according to provisional data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

This is the lowest number of conceptions in a single quarter in more than 20 years.

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It is a fall of 27.7% from the first three months of 2020, which saw 3,597 conceptions.

And it is down 31.3% from the same quarter in 2019.

The number of pregnancies to girls and teenagers under 18 has been on a downward trend over the past two decades.

The North West was the region with the highest number of conceptions to under-18s between April and June 2020 – 466 in the latest quarter.

This was followed by the South East (340 conceptions) and Yorkshire and the Humber (292 conceptions).

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The conception rate – the number of conceptions per thousand girls aged 15 to 17 – also fell.

There were 10.9 conceptions per thousand girls aged 15-17 in the three months to June 2020, down from 15.2 in the previous quarter.

The figures cover pregnancies that result in a live birth, stillbirth or an abortion.