Hello.. That's a good question. I was wondering the same thing myself. When I went to the doctor she told me that it was only 85% - and that's like 100 couples having sex per yr, 15 of them will get preg. She also said that it goes to the low 90s if u use a spermicide. However, on the condom packets im sure the number is like 97 or 98% effective! Sorry if this doesn't really answer your question, but I am also confused!

Does this have anything to do with breakage rate or can you still get pregnant if it doesn't break?

Umm I think with breakage rate.. Not entirely sure but that seems to make more sense!

If you are have not had sex yet and thinking about it having sex. Then you should use a condom and another form of bc. Because if you are not ready to become pregnant and if the condom breaks it is a scary thought to think that you might be pregnant. (at least I image that it would be scary). Plus I have had some cousin to get pregnant at the age of 15.

the failure rate for condoms has been set conservatively at 85%. However, most studies have confirmed that through proper and consistent usage, that number is higher into the 90-95% range. What makes condoms ineffective most of the time is human error. It's not hard to learn how to put on a condom. I suggest practicing first so that you know how to do it properly when the time comes. You can still get pregnant if the condom does not break if it should slip off or something else related to human error.

If you would like to know how to put on a condom, I suggest going here to Teenwire.Com. They have a small movie that shows the steps in putting on a condom correctly. They also have really good articles and resources about contraception.