US EditionChina taxes condoms, contraceptive drugs in bid to spur birth rate
China replaced contraceptive VAT exemption with a 13% tax while giving breaks to childcare and elderly care to address falling birth rates and population ageing.
- On January 1, 2026, Beijing imposed a 13% value-added tax on condoms and contraceptives, ending a roughly three-decade VAT exemption and shifting breaks to childcare and elderly care.
- Following official figures showing 9.54 million births in 2024, officials said the VAT change aims to increase births amid China's population decline, with over 1.4 billion inhabitants.
- On social media, users mocked the tax, while Qian Cai, director of the University of Virginia's Demographics Research Group, warned, `Higher prices may reduce access to contraceptives among economically disadvantaged populations, potentially leading to increases in unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections`.
- Experts countered that the reform is largely symbolic, with He Yafu and Henrietta Levin doubting it will raise birth rates despite a possible five to 20 yuan price increase per box of condoms.
- Economically, China relies on VAT revenue amounting to nearly $1t, which made up close to 40% of tax collection last year, while Oxford Economics warns potential output growth could fall below 4 percent in the 2030s, prompting Beijing to accelerate automation and humanoid robotics strategy.
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60 Articles
In China, new requirements are in place to increase the birth rate.
The new 13% contraceptive tax complements a range of aids, incentives and obstacles introduced by the authorities to try to revive births in a rapidly ageing and depopulating country.
In China, the exemption for contraceptive pills and condoms that had existed for the past thirty years has been abolished. Learn why the Xi Jinping government took this step.
Why Is China Taxing Condoms, Birth Control Pills Now? Policy Shift Explained
China has begun imposing a 13 percentsales tax on contraceptives such as condoms, birth control pills, and devices from January 1, 2026, while exempting childcare services from value-added tax (VAT).
As a result of the one-child policy in force until 2015, the population has shrunk for the third year in a row
A new law covers all "conceptive drugs and products" as well as pregnancy tests. Specialists are alert to the risk of unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
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