Adolescent fertility rates in Cuba have remained persistently high over the past five years, with a notable worsening in the eastern provinces, according to data from the Gender Equality Observatory of the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI).
The records for the period 2021-2025 show that, in the group of girls aged 10 to 14, the rate hardly changed: it increased from 1.3 to 1.4 births per 1,000 girls. In the group aged 15 to 19, the figure decreased from 48.5 to 43.2 during the same period. The analysis by ONEI itself warns that "it is in the group of the youngest where the greatest resistance to the decline in fertility is observed."
Absolute numbers reinforce this concern: births to mothers under 15 years old increased from 381 in 2021 to 397 in 2022 and to 419 in 2023, according to data cited by the agency EFE. In 2024, the Demographic Yearbook from ONEI recorded 11,962 births to mothers under 20 years old, accounting for 16.76% of the total 71,358 births that year.
The provincial breakdown reveals that the issue is particularly concentrated in the eastern part of the country. In the group aged 10 to 14 years, Mayabeque tops the list with a rate of 2.2, followed by Guantánamo (2.0), Granma and Holguín (both at 1.9), and then Las Tunas, Camagüey, and Pinar del Río.
In the group of 15 to 19 years old, three eastern provinces exceed 50 births per 1,000 women in that age range: Granma leads with 56.5, followed by Holguín (53.3) and Guantánamo (50.9). Las Tunas, Mayabeque, and Camagüey report rates very close to that threshold.
The situation in Las Tunas is particularly alarming as we progress through 2026. According to a session of the Municipal Administration Council held in early August, the municipality recorded a teenage pregnancy rate of 19% in the first half of the year, three percentage points higher than the previous period. In the first quarter, the provincial rate reached 21%, with 70 pregnancies among teenagers just in April.
Among the factors that perpetuate the problem are the early initiation of sexual activity, insufficient sex education, and the chronic shortage of condoms and contraceptives in state pharmacies, reported since at least 2020. In addition, early unions and relationships between adults and minors are more prevalent in the eastern provinces.
The Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) reported in 2026 that 18.2% of pregnant women in 2025 were adolescents. In response, the agency approved Resolution 174, published in Official Gazette No. 40, which establishes provisions to strengthen comprehensive care for adolescent fertility, emphasizing education, prevention, and support. The regulation includes the mandatory reporting of any pregnancy in individuals under 18 to the municipal Social Prevention committees and guarantees access to contraceptive methods in safe spaces.
However, data from the first half of 2026 in provinces like Las Tunas suggests that administrative measures have not succeeded in reversing a trend that the State itself acknowledges as a serious social and health issue, exacerbated by the economic crisis facing the island.
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