US EditionChina’s new ‘condom tax’ draws skepticism and worries over health risks
The 13% value-added tax on contraceptives ends decades of exemption, raising concerns about increased unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, experts warn.
- On Jan. 1, China will begin applying a 13% value-added tax to contraceptive drugs and products, marking the first time in over three decades they lose tax-exempt status.
- Amid recent years, the Chinese government framed the tax change as part of pro-natalist policies and broader tax reform, citing the lifting of birth limits from the one-child policy to two and three children.
- Market data show heavy condom use—5.4 billion units in 2020—and low retail prices, while the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration reports over 670,000 syphilis, 100,000 gonorrhea, and about 1.4 million HIV/AIDS cases last year.
- Public-Health experts warn higher costs could curb contraceptive access for economically disadvantaged populations, potentially increasing unintended pregnancies, STIs, abortions, and health-care costs, while social media users on RedNote and Weibo criticize the tax as punishing ordinary people.
- Analysts say a 13% tax is unlikely to alter fertility, given the drop from 14.7 million in 2019 to 9.5 million in 2024 and child-rearing costs over 538,000 yuan, according to the National Bureau of Statistics and YuWa Population Research Institute.
35 Articles
35 Articles
From the New Year, a tax on condoms and other contraceptives will be introduced in China.
China will start levying taxes on contraceptives starting January 1st. The government hopes this will encourage families to have more children. This will increase the price of all contraceptives, such as condoms, the pill, and IUDs. Emergency contraception will also be subject to the new tax.
'We Can’t Even Afford to Have Sex': China’s New Condom Tax Draws Ire
The Chinese government is testing out a new solution to falling birth rates: making sex more expensive. Consumers will pay a 13% value-added tax on contraceptive drugs and products, including condoms, beginning Jan. 1, as part of China’s newly revised Value-Added Tax Law. Those products have been exempted from tax since 1993 as part of China’s one-child policy, which heavily penalized families for having more than one child from 1980 to 2015. A…
For the first time in over thirty years, China will again levy a tax on contraceptives. The decision is part of Beijing's efforts to encourage families to have more children as the population shrinks and ages rapidly. China introduced the one-child policy in 1979 to prevent population explosions and shortages. Women were forced to have abortions if they already had a child, and couples who violated the policy faced heavy fines. Later, the 13 per…
China introduces 'condom tax' for first time in 30 years to boost birth rate; move sparks debate
In 2015, the government increased the allowed number of children per family to two. As China's population reached its peak and then started to decline, the policy was further relaxed in 2021 to permit three children. Throughout this period, contraception continued to be widely promoted.
The Virginian Pilot
China’s new ‘condom tax’ draws skepticism and worries over health risks
China will soon start collecting a value-added tax on contraceptive drugs and products for the first time in over three decades, a move aligned with Beijing’s effort to get families to have more children after decades of limiting most to one child. “Contraceptive drugs and products” will not be tax-exempt as of Jan. 1, according to the country’s newest value-added tax law. Products such as condoms will be subject to the usual 13% value-added tax…
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