The teen pregnancy rate among Filipinos aged 15 to 19 fell from 8.6% in 2017 to 5.4% in 2022, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Tuesday.
Of those who became pregnant, 13.3% were 19 years old, 5.9% were 18 years old, 5.6% were 17 years old, and only 1.7% and 1.4% were 16 and 15 years old, respectively.
According to PSA, 0.4% of those who were pregnant had a miscarriage.
Meanwhile, PSA data showed that teenage pregnancy rates were 6.1% higher in rural areas compared to 4.8% in urban areas.
Northern Mindanao recorded the highest rate at 10.9%, followed by the Davao Region at 8.2%, Central Luzon at 8% and Caraga at 7.7%.
Ilocos and Bicol both recorded the lowest at 2.4%.
According to the PSA, teenage pregnancy rates also decrease as wealth quantiles increase.
One in ten or 10.3% of women in the “poorest quintile” aged 15 to 19 have been pregnant, and only 1.8% of women in the “richest quintile” have.
“Even among today’s pregnant teens, there is a downward trend from the poorest to the richest,” PSA said.
2.8% of women in the “poorest quintile” are currently pregnant, higher than 0.7% of women in the “richest quintile”.
In terms of educational attainment, teenage pregnancies were most common in 19.1% of those who completed grades 1-6, according to PSA.
“Teenage pregnancy rates decline as educational attainment increases,” the report states.
According to PSA, 5.3% completed levels 7-19, 4.8% completed levels 11-12, and 1.9% reached college level.
PSA said it interviewed a total of 27,821 women aged 15 to 49 from 30,372 sample households in 2022. — RSJ, GMA Integration News