PSA: Teenage pregnancy declined to 5.4% in 2022

Teenage pregnancy among Filipinos aged 15 to 19 years old declined from 8.6% in 2017 to 5.4% in 2022, according to the Philippine Statistic Authority (PSA) on Tuesday.

Of those who became pregnant, 13.3% were 19-year-olds, 5.9% were 18-year-olds, 5.6% were 17-year-olds, and only 1.7% and 1.4% were aged 16 and 15, respectively.

The PSA said 0.4% of those who were pregnant suffered pregnancy loss.

Meanwhile, data from the PSA showed that teenage pregnancy was higher in rural areas at 6.1% compared to 4.8% in urban areas.

Northern Mindanao recorded the highest percentage at 10.9%, followed by the Davao Region at 8.2%, Central Luzon at 8%, and Caraga at 7.7%.

The Ilocos Region and the Bicol Region both recorded the lowest at 2.4%.

According to the PSA, the percentage of teenage pregnancy also decreases with increasing wealth quantile.

It said that 1 in every 10 women aged 15 to 19 in “the poorest quantile” or 10.3% ever became pregnant while only 1.8% of the women in “the wealthiest quantile” ever became pregnant.

“Among teenagers who are currently pregnant, the trend is also decreasing from poorest to wealthiest,” the PSA said.

It said that 2.8% of the women in “the poorest quantile” are currently pregnant, higher than the 0.7% of the women in “the wealthiest quantile.”

In terms of educational attainment, the PSA said teenage pregnancy was most common among those who completed grade levels 1 to 6 at 19.1%.

“Percentage of teenage pregnancy decreases as educational attainment increases,” it said.

The PSA said that 5.3% completed grades level 7 to 19, 4.8% completed grades 11 to 12, and 1.9% attained college level.

The PSA said that it interviewed a total of 27,821 women aged 15 to 49 from 30,372 sample households in 2022. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News