When Lee, a woman in her early 30s, traveled to Japan with friends last month, their first stop was a large discount store. Among Korean women, it is well known as a travel “tip” that stocking up on sanitary pads in Japan — often sold at about half the price of those in Korea — is a smart move. As they picked up bundles of pads, Lee and her friends sighed in disbelief. “They’re so cheap here. Are they only expensive in Korea?”
According to a 2024 report by IBMNC, a private research institute based in London, that compared the cost of sanitary pads across 30 countries, South Korea ranked seventh, placing it among the 10 most expensive countries for menstrual products. Japan and the United Kingdom, by contrast, were classified as countries where sanitary pads are relatively affordable. Why, then, are sanitary pads so expensive in Korea?
Oligopoly, taxes, and safety fears drive up prices
The high cost of domestically produced sanitary pads can largely be explained by three factors. One that has drawn particular attention recently is the oligopolistic market structure highlighted by President Lee Jae Myung. In Korea, the menstrual products market is dominated by just three or four major companies. Because sanitary pads are essential goods, consumers are unlikely to stop buying them, which further strengthens this oligopoly. Frequent emergency purchases also give offline retailers such as convenience stores and supermarkets strong influence, making it difficult for new brands to enter the market. This differs from Japan, where drugstores dominate distribution and bulk sales are more common.
Another factor is taxation. Sanitary pads were classified as quasi-drugs in 2004, and the ten percent value-added tax was eliminated early on. However, taxes incurred during manufacturing and distribution are still reflected in retail prices, limiting the impact of the tax exemption. In practice, exempting value-added tax alone has not significantly reduced consumer prices.
The most decisive factor, however, has been the mainstreaming of “premium” sanitary pads following the 2017 “sanitary pad scandal,” when harmful substances were detected in some domestic products. After conducting a full investigation, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said that “harmful substances were present, but the amounts were so small that they were unlikely to affect the human body.” Many women, however, were not reassured, especially those who experienced physical symptoms after using low-quality products. As a result, the perception took hold that “cheap pads are unsafe,” leading women to shoulder higher costs in favor of more expensive products labeled as “organic” or “pure cotton.”
From tax cuts to free pads, women defend menstrual rights
Given how clear the problem is, why has the issue of sanitary pad prices remained unresolved? In Korea, menstrual rights — defined as the right of all people who menstruate to live healthy and dignified lives — have not traditionally been treated as a social issue. Some still question whether the state should intervene to supply sanitary pads or lower prices, even if they are essential goods.
Looking abroad, however, other countries offer examples of how menstrual rights have been expanded socially. One notable case is Germany’s 2019 “The Tampon Book” campaign. At the time, books were taxed at seven percent, while menstrual products were subject to a 19 percent value-added tax, the same as luxury items. To protest this, a tampon startup packaged 15 tampons inside a book titled “The Tampon Book” and sold it. Women responded enthusiastically, selling out the first run in a single day and purchasing up to 10,000 copies in the second. The campaign helped build a social consensus that “menstruation is not a luxury,” and the tax on menstrual products was subsequently lowered to seven percent.
India saw a similar movement. In 2017, when the government classified tampons and sanitary pads as luxury items subject to a 12 percent tax, women organized protests in response. More than 400,000 people joined a petition, and amid growing controversy, the Indian government abolished the tax on menstrual products in July 2018, just one year later.
There are also cases where menstrual rights activism led to the establishment of free sanitary pad distribution at the national level. In Scotland, women argued that missing school or work due to menstruation amounted to discrimination and brought attention to “period poverty,” a condition in which people lack access to menstrual products or adequate facilities due to economic or social barriers. As a result, Scotland became the first country in the world to legislate universal free access to menstrual products in 2020.
Returning to Korea, investigations by the National Tax Service following President Lee’s remarks have begun to uncover long-standing collusion and tax evasion among sanitary pad manufacturers. If corrective measures based on these findings are firmly implemented, price hikes driven by oligopoly could be curbed to some extent.
Still, to meaningfully control sanitary pad prices, reforms must extend beyond market structure to include the tax system. Women’s and consumer advocacy groups are calling for measures that go beyond value-added tax exemptions, such as applying a zero tax rate that would allow manufacturers to receive refunds for taxes paid during production and distribution. Discussions around these proposals, they say, need to become far more active.
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