Rate of teenage pregnancies in Scotland at new low

Dundee City Council had the highest rate of teenage pregnancy across Scotland at 51.8 per 1,000, while East Dunbartonshire had the lowest at 15.3 (iStock)

TEENAGE pregnancy rates in Scotland have fallen to a new low.

A total of 4,808 females aged 19 and under became pregnant in 2015 according to the latest figures, a rate of 32.4 per 1,000.

The rate is down from 34.1 in the previous year and a marked drop from the most recent peak of 57.7 in 2007.

A total of 2,803 teenagers gave birth in 2015 while 2,005 had an abortion.

Pregnancy rates for under-16s have fallen from 4.2 per 1,000 in 2014 to three per 1,000 in 2015 with a total of 244 pregnancies – eight of which were to girls aged under 14.

Dundee City Council had the highest rate of teenage pregnancy across Scotland at 51.8 per 1,000, while East Dunbartonshire had the lowest at 15.3.

The statistics show young women in Scotland’s most deprived areas are five times more likely to get pregnant than their peers in the country’s richest areas – no change from the previous year.

In the poorest areas, 1,313 teenagers gave birth and 573 had an abortion in 2015 while in the least deprived areas 104 gave birth and there were 261 terminations.