Japan has the lowest rates of teenage births in the industrialized world, closely followed by Switzerland and the Netherlands.
The average number of births for every 1,000 girls aged 15 to 19 is approximately 15 in the countries of the European Union. The United States – with 64 births per year for every 1,000 girls aged 15 to 19 – has the highest rates.
Teen pregnancy has far-reaching consequences both for mother and child. Mothers face higher risks of complications in childbirth and their infants are at greater risk of prematurity, low birth weight, death in the first year of life, and developmental problems.
Becoming pregnant at too young an age can distort a young woman's own development, limiting education and life-opportunities. For the infants born to teenage mothers, the years of early childhood may be marked by poverty, poor care, and instability, which help to perpetuate problems from one generation to the next.
Number of births per 1,000 women aged 15-19,1990-1995
| Fertility rate | Fertility rate | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | 4 | Belarus | 28 |
| Switzerland | 5 | Poland | 28 |
| Netherlands | 7 | Iceland | 29 |
| France | 9 | Slovenia | 30 |
| Italy | 9 | Croatia | 32 |
| Belgium | 10 | Lithuania | 32 |
| Denmark | 10 | Bosnia/Herz. | 33 |
| Malta | 12 | United Kingdom | 33 |
| Spain | 12 | Estonia | 34 |
| Finland | 13 | Latvia | 35 |
| Germany | 13 | New Zealand | 35 |
| Luxembourg | 13 | Russian Fed. | 37 |
| Sweden | 13 | Moldova | 38 |
| Albania | 14 | Hungary | 41 |
| Ireland | 16 | Romania | 41 |
| Norway | 19 | TFYR Macedonia | 41 |
| Israel | 20 | Ukraine | 43 |
| Australia | 21 | Yugoslavia | 43 |
| Greece | 22 | Slovakia | 44 |
| Austria | 23 | Czech Rep. | 46 |
| Portugal | 25 | Bulgaria | 59 |
| Canada | 27 | United States | 64 |
SOURCE United Nations Population Division, World Population Prospects: The 1994 Revision, 1994.