ARMADALE has the highest number of teenage mothers in the Perth suburban area, new research shows.
The suburb has 23 births to teenagers per 1000 women according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Teenage mothers in Australia 2015 report.
Mandurah followed with 20.8 births per 1000 women and Kwinana with 20.3.
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READ NOWThe lowest ranking suburbs were Cottesloe and Claremont (0.6), Perth City (2.8) and Melville (3.4).
The report considered mothers who had their first child before the age of 20 to be teenage mothers.
It found that one in four teen mums smoked after 20 weeks of pregnancy and their babies were 1.3 times more likely to be of low birth weight than babies of 20-24-year-old mothers.
However, the rate of teenage births in Australia is in decline, from 17.5 births per 1000 women in 2005 to 11.4 in 2015.
Teenage mothers were found to be nine times more likely to live in the lowest socioeconomic areas compared to the highest socioeconomic areas.
One in four (24 per cent) of all teenage mothers were Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.
Rates of teenage births per 1000 women ranked by suburbs
1 Armadale 23 2 Mandurah 20.8 3 Kwinana 20.3 4 Gosnells 16.7 5 Belmont/Victoria Park 16.6 6 Rockingham 15.6 7 City of Swan 14.8 8 Wanneroo 11.9 9 Bayswater/Bassendean 10.6 10 Serpentine/Jarrahdale 9.6 11 Kalamunda 9.4 12 Stirling 9.4 13 Cockburn 8.8 14 Canning 7 15 Fremantle 5.3 16 South Perth 5.1 17 Joondalup 3.7 18 Melville 3.4 19 Perth City 2.8 20 Cottesloe/Claremont 0.6
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