Answer: Every year, an estimated 21 million girls aged 15–19 years in developing regions become pregnant and approximately 12 million of them give birth.1 At least 777,000 births occur to adolescent girls younger than 15 years in developing countries. 2
The estimated global adolescent-specific fertility rate has declined by 11.6% over the past 20 years.5 There are, however, big differences in rates across the regions. The adolescent fertility rate in East Asia, for example, is 7.1 whereas the corresponding rate in Central Africa is 129.5.5
There are also enormous variations within regions. In 2018, the overall adolescent fertility rate in South-East Asia was 33.6 Rates, however, ranged from 0.3 in Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to 83 in Bangladesh.5
And even within countries there are enormous variations. In Ethiopia, for example the total fertility rate ranges from 1.8 in Addis Ababa to 7.2 in the Somali region with the percentage of women aged 15-19 who have begun childbearing ranging from 3% in Addis Ababa to 23% in the Affar region.7
While the estimated global adolescent fertility rate has declined, the actual number of child births to adolescents has not, due to the large – and in some parts of the world, growing – population of young women in the 15–19 age group.8 The largest number of births occur in Eastern Asia (95,153) and Western Africa (70,423).9