AUGUST 2014
Fast Facts
Teen Birth Rates: How Does the United States Compare?
Despite declining by more than one-half since the early 1990s, the United States still has the highest teen birth rate among developed
countries.a In 2011, (the most recent year for which comparable international data are available), the teen birth rate in the United States was
31.3 births per 1,000 girls age 15-19—nearly one and a half times greater than in the United Kingdom, which has one of the highest teen
birth rates in Europe at 22 per 1,000, and nearly 10 times greater than the teen birth rate in Switzerland, which has the lowest teen birth rate
in Europe at 3.4 per 1,000.1,2 In addition, the U.S. teen birth rate was more than twice as high as the teen birth rate in Canada (14 per 1,000).
FIGURE 1. Teen Birth Rate (per 1,000 Girls Age 15-19) for Selected Developed Countries, 2011
Switzerland
Japan
Denmark
Netherlands
Sweden
Italy
Norway
Finland
Germany
France
Spain
Greece
Portugal
Canada
Australia
Latvia
United Kingdom
United States
3.4
4.5
4.6
4.8
5.9
6.3
7.1
7.7
8.2
9.4
9.6
9.8
13.1
14.1
15.9
18.7
21.8
31.3
0
Notes:
a. 5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Here, “developed countries” were defined using the IMF’s list of advanced economies.3 The 2011 U.S. teen birth rate is higher than all other 35 countries listed, although only a
selection are highlighted above.
Sources:
1.
Martin, J.A., Hamilton, B.E., Ventura S.J., Osterman, M.J.K, & Matthews, T.J. (2013). Births: Final data for 2011. National Vital Statistics Reports, 62(1). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/
data/nvsr/nvsr62/nvsr6201.pdf.
2.
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (2013). 2012 Demographic Yearbook. New York: Author. Retrieved from http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/
dybsets/2012.pdf.
3.
International Monetary Fund. (2014). World Economic Outlook: Recovery Strengthens, Remains Uneven [Table B]. Retrieved from http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2014/01/pdf/text.pdf.
www.TheNationalCampaign.org
www.TheNationalCampaign.org/blog
www.Bedsider.org
www.StayTeen.org
August 2014
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