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China Begins 2026 With 13% Tax On Condoms And Birth Control: What’s Behind The Move?
China Begins 2026 With 13% Tax On Condoms And Birth Control: What’s Behind The Move?
China has begun 2026 by introducing a measure that has puzzled, angered and amused millions: a 13 per cent value-added tax on condoms and other contraceptives. For the first time in more than three decades, products such as condoms, birth control pills and intrauterine devices are no longer exempt from VAT. The change, which takes effect from Thursday, comes as Beijing struggles with a deep demographic crisis, a shrinking population and declining birth rates that have persisted for several years.
The new tax is part of a broader overhaul of China's VAT regime, which was first introduced in 1993. Back then, contraceptives were exempt because China was actively enforcing its one-child policy and providing free or subsidised birth control as a matter of state priority. During that era, some women underwent forced abortions and, in certain cases, children born in excess of the quota were denied identification numbers, effectively rendering them non-citizens.
Today, however, the same state is attempting to reverse the demographic slide by encouraging marriage and childbirth through subsidies, extended parental leave, and tax breaks for childcare, marriage-related services and elderly care.
Yet the decision to make contraception more expensive has prompted ridicule and concern in equal measure. Many young Chinese argue that pricier condoms will not change their decision not to have children when the cost of raising a child remains among the highest in the world.
The YuWa Population Research Institute notes that China is one of the most expensive countries in which to raise a child, a burden worsened by sky-high education costs and pressures on working mothers. A slowing economy and a prolonged property slump have also hit savings and eroded confidence among young families, making them more reluctant to plan for children.
Public health experts fear that higher costs could reduce access to contraceptives among students and low-income groups, increasing the risk of unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.
Why Is China Taxing Condoms Now?
The 13 per cent tax is embedded in a sweeping VAT law passed in 2024, which was part of a government effort to modernise its tax system and codify taxes previously governed by administrative rules. VAT is China's single largest source of revenue, making up close to 40 per cent of total tax collection, according to the BBC.
Since ending the one-child rule in 2015 and lifting the limit to three children in 2021, China has introduced numerous incentives for families. Provinces offer discounts on IVF treatment, cash handouts for extra children and extended paid leave for newlyweds. In 2024, the government allocated 90bn yuan for its first nationwide childcare subsidy programme and announced plans to expand national health insurance to cover all childbirth-related expenses.
Even so, births have continued to fall. China recorded just 9.54 million babies in 2024, roughly half the number born a decade earlier. Deaths have outpaced births for at least three years, and in 2023 India overtook China as the world's most populous country.
What The New VAT Law Actually Does
The law subjects all contraceptive products — condoms, pills and devices — to the standard 13 per cent rate. These items had been VAT-exempt since 1993. At the same time, childcare services, marriage-introduction services and elderly care have been exempted from VAT in line with Beijing's pronatal push.
Typical prices illustrate why experts say the tax is mostly symbolic: condoms generally cost between 40 and 60 yuan, while a month's supply of contraceptive pills is priced at 50 to 130 yuan. According to the Guardian, taxing contraceptives is expected to bring in about 5bn yuan annually, negligible compared to China's public budget revenue of 22tn yuan.
Public Backlash And Social Media Ridicule
Reaction online has been immediate and derisive. Chinese social media users joked about buying lifetime supplies of condoms before prices rise, with one remarking: “I'll buy a lifetime's worth of condoms now." Another wrote: “What is wrong with modern society? They are truly going to extreme lengths just to make us have children."
Another user posted: “People can tell the difference between the price of a condom and that of raising a child."
A Sky News interviewee, Hu Lingling, a mother of a five-year-old, said she was determined not to have another child and would “lead the way in abstinence" as a form of rebellion. She said the measure was “hilarious, especially compared to forced abortions during the family planning era".
Such reactions reflect a broader trend: young Chinese overwhelmingly say they are unwilling to have children due to the financial strain, career pressures and lack of social support.
Will Higher Prices Change Reproductive Behaviour?
Experts widely doubt that the tax will meaningfully alter reproductive decisions. University of Virginia demographer Qian Cai told Sky News the new tax would have a “very limited" effect on reproductive behaviour and is “unlikely to influence reproductive decisions, especially when weighed against the far higher costs of raising a child".
Yi Fuxian from the University of Wisconsin-Madison similarly argued that taxing contraceptives is “only logical" now that China has shifted from limiting births to encouraging them, but added that higher prices will not persuade people to have children.
For many young Chinese, the financial burden of child-rearing dwarfs any marginal change in the cost of condoms or pills. Daniel Luo, a 36-year-old from Henan, told the BBC: “A box of condoms might cost an extra five yuan. Over a year, that's just a few hundred yuan, completely affordable." He noted that the real pressure lies in the broader social and economic strain facing young people, with rising sex-toy sales and growing reliance on online interactions reflecting a wider hesitation around relationships and parenthood.
Together, these factors underscore why a VAT change alone cannot address China's demographic crisis. The country's deeper challenges — high education expenses, workplace pressures, unstable economic conditions and lack of social support — continue to overshadow any small price adjustments in contraception.
Concerns Over Unintended Pregnancies And STIs
The most serious fear arising from the tax is reduced access to contraceptives among poorer groups. Multiple experts warn this could raise the risk of unintended pregnancies, abortions and sexually transmitted infections.
BBC interviewee Rosy Zhao from Xi'an said students or financially struggling individuals might “take a risk" if contraception becomes too expensive. Qian Cai also warned that higher prices could “reduce access to contraceptives among economically disadvantaged populations," potentially increasing STIs and leading to “higher health-care costs".
What This Means For Chinese Women
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Women would bear the brunt of limited contraceptive access. Yun Zhou, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Michigan, told the Guardian that if access to contraception did become difficult, “the brunt of the negative effects will be borne by women, particularly by disadvantaged women."
This aligns with a broader tension: while China wants more births, young women increasingly cite crushing childcare expectations, workplace discrimination and lack of support as reasons to delay or avoid motherhood.
Source: News18
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