For the first time in 30 years, taxes will be placed on condoms and birth control drugs in China.
Published: December 14, 2025 9:36 AM IST
The population of a nation or region is one of the primary factors that determine the characteristics of its economic system, social systems, and governmental system. To combat the decreasing number of births, the government of China has taken a significant new step. For the first time in 30 years, taxes will be placed on condoms and birth control drugs in China.
Effective January 1, 2016, under the new amended Value-Added Tax (VAT) of China, individuals will pay a 13 per cent tax on all contraceptive methods, including condoms and birth control pills. Since the inception of the one-child policy in 1993, these contraceptives have not been taxed. This meant that families who had more than one child between 1980 and 2015 were heavily fined.
The goal of this policy is to curb the declining birth rate in the country while also minimizing the impacts caused by a declining workforce and an ageing population. The government will impose taxes on the sale of contraceptives and provide tax incentives to encourage parents to have more children.
In particular, these incentives will provide tax deductions for childcare services, elderly care facilities and service providers, people with disabilities, and longer maternity leave. In cities like Beijing, the amount of time available for new mothers to be off work due to having a baby has increased from 128 days to 158 days. A proposal has also been made to create a 30-day paid paternity leave has also been introduced.
Despite the actions undertaken, couples are still delaying or not having children due to increased financial instability in their professions, as well as the overwhelming costs associated with raising a child.
. Even with the removal of the two-child policy and a three-child policy having been implemented in 2015 and 2021 respectively, the population of China continues to decrease. For three consecutive years, the population of China has decreased, and in 2023, India overtook China to become the most populous nation in the World.
China’s birth rate dropped from 14.7 million in 2019, the lowest it has been in 60 years, to 9.5 million in 2024. While the availability of condoms at low prices has continued to exist in China, it is anticipated that after the introduction of this new tax on condoms, the cost will now become much higher. There has been some backlash against this new tax on social media; according to the report from Time magazine, one RedNote user expressed his anger about the new tax on condoms, saying, “I was so angry when I saw that condoms are going to be taxed and increase in price.”
“Like—what, is it that easy to make money off us working people?! Even condoms are going to increase in price?! I got so mad I placed a late-night order for the condom products I love… and accidentally stocked up way too much…,” the post further continued.
An individual shared that they had ordered a bulk order of condoms online. Multiple individuals have posted images of the condoms they purchased prior to the tax increase.
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