Reducing early and unintended pregnancies among adolescents

There were 21 million pregnancies among adolescent girls aged 15–19 years in developing countries in 2016; nearly half (49%) were unintended (43% in Asia, 45% in Africa, and 74% in Latin America and the Caribbean) (2). An estimated 12 million girls aged 15–19 gave birth. Additionally, 777,000 girls under the age of 15 gave birth in the same year (3). An estimated 23 million adolescent girls have an unmet need for modern contraception and are at risk of unintended pregnancy (2). About onefifth (21%) of unintended adolescent pregnancies in Asia, and about half of unintended pregnancies in Latin America and the Caribbean (49%) and in Africa (46%) end in unsafe abortion (4).