Kiwi teen pregnancies in steady decline

New Zealand’s teen birth rate has halved in the last nine years, but remains high compared to other countries.

In 2016 the rate for 15-19-yearolds was 16 births per 1000 women, half the 2008 rate of 33, new data from Statistics New Zealand shows.

Teen pregnancies have been in steady decline across the industrialised world. Research suggests that greater access to contraception and a decrease in teen sexual activity is responsible.

There were 2865 live births to teenagers in 2016, and 5223 in 2008. Mothers under the age of 15 represent a tiny proportion of those – just 15 in 2016.

There were 59,472 live births in total in 2016, down from 64,341 in 2008. Auckland saw the most births while the West Coast saw the least.

‘‘The teen birth rate has also fallen across the Tasman, but Australia’s rate remains lower than New Zealand’s,’’ population statistics senior manager Peter Dolan said in the release.

Australia’s rate for 2015 was 12 teen births per 1000 women. New Zealand’s rate has consistently been the second highest of the OECD countries this century, after the United States.

The socially disadvantaged are still more likely to give birth as teenagers. A 2015 University of Waikato study showed that teen births were dropping in every region of New Zealand other than Northland, with the rate particularly low in urban areas.

‘‘The predominantly metropolitan regions of Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury, as well as the rest of the South Island, all had rates well below the national average, with the lowest teenage fertility rate seen in Canterbury,’’ the researchers wrote.

The Maori teen birth rate, which has long been higher than the total population, has also declined in recent years, and the gap has been closing. In 2013 it was 53.1 births per 1000 women.

The median age of a new mother has shifted slightly from 29.7 in 2000 to 30.3 in 2016.

The teen birth rate reached its highest recorded level in 1972 with 69 births per 1000 women.