China has ignited fresh controversy after announcing plans to impose a tax on contraceptive products, including condoms and birth control drugs, in a bold move aimed at reversing its rapidly declining birth rate.
For the first time in more than three decades, contraceptives will lose their value-added tax (VAT) exemption. Under revised tax regulations, the products will now attract a 13 per cent VAT from January 1, marking a dramatic policy shift in the country’s population strategy.
The decision comes as China grapples with a deepening demographic crisis. Official figures show that only 9.5 million babies were born in 2024, a sharp decline from the 14.7 million recorded in 2019. With deaths now exceeding births, China lost its status as the world’s most populous nation to India in 2023.
Authorities have in recent years rolled out a series of measures to encourage childbirth, including cash incentives, extended maternity leave and housing support. However, the latest move targeting contraceptives has drawn widespread backlash and ridicule from the public.
On Chinese social media platforms, users questioned the logic behind the policy, arguing that the cost of raising a child far outweighs the price of contraception, even with the new tax.
One mother, identified as Hu Lingling, sarcastically remarked that the policy only strengthened her resolve not to have another child. “I’ll lead the way in abstinence,” she joked, describing the move as harsh and deeply ironic given China’s long history of strict family planning controls.
Critics have also pointed to the contradiction between China’s former one-child policy which aggressively restricted births for decades and its current attempts to pressure citizens into having more children.
Despite the government’s intentions, analysts warn that taxing contraceptives may do little to reverse the trend, as economic pressure, job insecurity, high housing costs and childcare expenses remain the main reasons young Chinese are avoiding parenthood.
As China’s population continues to shrink, the condom tax has become a symbol of how far authorities are willing to go in their bid to engineer a baby boom, even as public resistance grows louder.
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