More than 9,000 teenagers in Scotland became pregnant last year

Another 8,616 young women aged 16-19 fell pregnant, according to figures that showed little change from 2003.

Dundee was Scotland's teen pregnancy capital, with 64 pregnancies for every 1,000 girls in the 13-19 age group.

The overall teenage pregnancy rate for the 13-19 age group was 42.4 per 1,000, compared with 42.1 in 2003, the figures showed.

The Scottish Executive progress was being made in its target of achieving a 20% reduction in pregnancies among 13-15 year olds.

These figures show we have already made a reduction of 15.7% by the end of 2003-04 Scottish Executive

These levels are the lowest since the mid-1990s when the rate stood at 42, having fallen from 50.01 in 1991.

For the 13-15 age group, the area covered by Borders health board had the lowest teenage pregnancy rate.

East Renfrewshire has the lowest teenage pregnancy rate, with under 20 pregnancies per 1,000 in this age range.

Abortion rate

The areas covered by the Tayside, Dumfries and Galloway, and Fife health boards had the highest rates in this age range.

Tayside also had the highest abortion rate, at 24.2 per 1,000 including miscarriages, while Forth Valley had the lowest at 14.9.

A Scottish Executive spokeswoman said the figures showed it was making good progress towards its target of a 20% reduction in pregnancies in the 13-15 age group by 2010 compared to 1995.