What it means: conceptions are pregnancies that led to a birth or a legal abortion; miscarriages are not counted, and the year is when the pregnancy began. The under-18 rate is per 1,000 girls aged 15 to 17 and the under-16 rate (fainter line, 2.3 in 2023) is per 1,000 aged 13 to 15. There were 14,390 conceptions to under-18s in 2023, against 44,756 in 1990, and 61.4% ended in abortion. The rate has changed by −71.5% since 1990. Figures come out about two and a half years after the year they cover. A change of 5% or more on the year before counts.

Source: ONS, conceptions in England and Wales, 2023 tables 1 and 4, and 2021 table 1a for years before 2010.