The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated June 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the rate of (a) conception and (b) pregnancy terminated by abortion was among those under the age of 18 years in (i) England, (ii) Essex and (iii) Castle Point in each of the last five years. (278013)
Figures on conceptions are estimates based on the number of live births, stillbirths or legal abortions. They do not include miscarriages and illegal abortions.
The table below provides the rate of (a) conceptions and (b) conceptions leading to a legal abortion, among girls aged under 18, for (i) England, (ii) Essex county and (iii) Castle Point local authority district for 2003 to 2007 (the most recent year for which figures are available).
Rate per 1,0002 (a) Conceptions 2003 2004 2005 2006 20073 England 42.2 41.6 41.3 40.6 41.7 Essex county 31.7 30.5 30.6 32.5 32.9 Castle Point LAD 32.5 30.8 32.0 29.9 34.4
(b) Conceptions leading to a legal abortion 2003 2004 2005 2006 20073 England 19.4 19.1 19.3 19.8 21.1 Essex county 15.2 15.9 15.9 17.5 18.7 Castle Point LAD 17.7 20.0 19.8 17.5 19.7 1 Under 18 years at estimated date of conception. 2 Number of conceptions to women under 18 per 1,000 female population aged 15 to 17. 3 Figures for 2007 are provisional. 4 Number of conceptions to women under 18 leading to a legal abortion per 1,000 female population aged 15 to 17.