The move comes as Beijing struggles to boost birth rates in the world\u2019s second-largest economy. China\u2019s population fell for a third consecutive year in 2024, and experts have cautioned that the downturn will continue<\/p>\n
The new Value Added Tax (VAT) on condoms and other forms of contraceptives came into effect in China on January 1, as the country faces a population crunch. The measure has removed contraceptive drugs and devices from a three-decade-old tax exemption.<\/p>\n
Condoms and contraceptive medicines<\/a> will now incur a VAT of 13 per cent, the standard rate for most consumer goods.<\/p>\n The move comes as Beijing struggles to boost birth rates in the world\u2019s second-largest economy. China\u2019s population fell for a third consecutive year in 2024, and experts have cautioned that the downturn will continue.<\/p>\n STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADWould taxing condoms help?<\/p>\n China\u2019s plummeting birth rate has made its leadership anxious, with the government now shifting from its stringent one-child policy to a suite of \u201ccarrots\u201d to induce people to have more children.<\/p>\n Raising taxes on condoms is largely a symbolic gesture. A standard pack typically sells for 40 to 60 yuan ($5.70\u2013$8.50), while a month\u2019s supply of the contraceptive pill, available over the counter, costs between 50 and 130 yuan.<\/p>\n Yun Zhou, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Michigan, said the new tax was unlikely to change people\u2019s choices, but it sent a signal from the government about \u201cwhat desirable family behaviour should be.\u201d She added that if contraception became harder to access, \u201cthe brunt of the negative effects will be borne by women, particularly by disadvantaged women.\u201d<\/p>\n What are some other measures taken?<\/p>\n China exempted childcare subsidies from personal income tax and rolled out an annual childcare subsidy last year, following a series of \u201cfertility-friendly\u201d measures in 2024, such as urging colleges and universities to provide \u201clove education\u201d to portray marriage, love, fertility and family in a positive light.<\/p>\n Top leaders again\u00a0pledged\u00a0last month at the annual Central Economic Work Conference to promote \u201cpositive marriage and childbearing attitudes\u201d to stabilise birth rates.<\/p>\n China\u2019s birth rates have been falling for decades as a result of the one-child policy China implemented from 1980 to 2015, and rapid urbanisation.<\/p>\n The high cost of childcare and education as well as job uncertainty and a slowing economy have also discouraged many young Chinese from getting married and starting a family.<\/p>\n Home<\/a>World<\/a>China: Condoms, contraceptive drugs cost more in New Year as new taxes take effectEnd of Article<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The move comes as Beijing struggles to boost birth rates in the world\u2019s second-largest economy. China\u2019s population fell…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213234,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[138,607,129242,129238,129239,129241,73897,219,111,139,69,129240],"class_list":{"0":"post-213233","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-china","10":"tag-china-condom-prices","11":"tag-china-population-decline","12":"tag-condom-price","13":"tag-condom-prices-in-china","14":"tag-condoms","15":"tag-economy","16":"tag-new-zealand","17":"tag-newzealand","18":"tag-nz","19":"tag-vat-on-condoms"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}