Infographic: Teenage Pregnancy & Sexual Behaviour

The 2016 South Africa Demographic and Health Survey (SADHS 2016) is the third survey to be conducted in South Africa with Statistics South Africa collaborating with the worldwide Demographic and Health Survey Program. Teenage mothers are more likely to experience adverse pregnancy outcomes, and find it more difficult to pursue educational goals than women who delay childbearing.

In South Africa, 16% of women have begun childbearing: 12% have given birth and another 3% were pregnant with their first child at the time of the survey. As expected, the proportion of women age 15-19 who have begun childbearing rises rapidly with age, from 4% among women age 15 to 28% among women at age 19. Early childbearing among young women is more common in non-urban (19%) areas than in urban areas (14%) and by province, the percentage of women age 15-19 who have begun childbearing is highest in Northern Cape and North West (20%) and lowest in the Western Cape (8%). Overall, the percentage of women age 15-19 who have begun childbearing is unchanged relative to 1998 (16% in both 1998 and 2016).

Sexual behaviour (15-49 years)

  • 5% of women reported that they had two or more partners in the past 12 months, and 45% had intercourse in the past 12 months with a person who was neither their spouse nor lived with them

  • Among women who had two or more partners in the past 12 months, 58% reported using a condom during their last sexual encounter

  • The average number of lifetime partners among all women who have ever had sexual intercourse is 3.9

  • 17% of men age 15-49 reported that they had two or more partners in the past 12 months, and 55% had intercourse in the past 12 months with a person who was neither their spouse nor lived with them

  • Among men who had two or more partners in the past 12 months, 65% reported using a condom during their last sexual intercourse

  • The mean number of lifetime partners among all men age 15-49 who have ever had sexual intercourse is 14.7.

For more on teenage preganancy and sexual behaviour, see infographic below:

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