To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the (a) pregnancy and (b) abortion rate for under-16 year old girls was in (i) 1999 and (ii) at the latest available date. (268563)

I have been asked to reply.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated April 2009:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the (a) pregnancy and (b) abortion rate for under-16 year old girls was in (i) 1999 and (ii) at the latest available date. (268563)

Available figures are estimates of the number of conceptions that resulted in a live birth and/or stillbirth (a maternity) or a legal termination.

The conception rate and conceptions leading to abortion rate for girls aged under 16 in England and Wales for 1999 and 2007 (the most recent year for which figures are available), are shown in the attached table. Figures for 2007 are provisional.