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The Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) conducted in 2013 and published in 2014, covered a range of indicators including teenage fertility.
The level of teenage fertility has a significant bearing on the level of fertility of a country as a whole. If the fertility level of teenagers is considerably high compared to the other ages, this can push the overall fertility level up. On the other hand if the teenage fertility is very low, the overall fertility can be pushed otherwise.
Teenage fertility had been decreasing over the past 20 years. The Age-Specific Fertility Rate (ASFR) 20 years before the DHS was conducted stood at 146 and 5 years down the line, it further reduced to 115. This reduced even further to 87 just 5 years prior to the DHS.
The explanation to this can be manifold, however one of the most obvious explanations to this decline is increased school enrollment and retention for young girls.
SOURCE: DHS 2013 and The Education Report 2016/2017
Author: Lamin L. Dibba - Principal Statistician