Menstrual products can be expensive – even cost-prohibitive – in much of the world.
July 3, 2023, at 3:00 p.m.
Period poverty, or a lack of affordable access to menstrual products and facilities, touches an estimated 500 million women and girls worldwide, per the World Bank. In some countries, women and girls spend as much as 15% of their monthly earnings on their menstruation needs, according to a recent report by PlushCare, a virtual health platform providing primary care and mental health treatment.
The report analyzed the cost of one month’s worth of menstrual products – tampons, panty liners and the recommended dose of ibuprofen tablets for pain – in 107 countries. Researchers calculated affordability by finding the cheapest listed price for the products available online in each country, including shipping costs, and comparing them to the per-capita income of the average resident in the country.
The five countries with the least affordable access to menstrual products are in Africa, the analysis found. In Algeria, the worst country for period affordability, menstrual products might cost a local person 14.8% of their monthly income. Ghana, the fourth-most expensive, levies a 20% import tax on sanitary products, further aggravating issues of affordability.
In contrast, Europe is home to 8 of the 10 countries where menstrual products are the most affordable. The United Kingdom leads the way in menstrual product affordability, as residents of England, Wales and Northern Ireland pay an estimated 0.12% of their average monthly income on period products. The U.K.’s estimate does not include Scotland, where menstrual products are free to anyone who needs them owing to a law passed by Scottish Parliament in 2020.
Here are the 10 countries where menstrual products are the most affordable, by percentage of the average resident’s monthly income:
1. United Kingdom (0.12%)
2. Switzerland (0.14%)
3. Luxembourg (0.19%)
4. United States (0.20%)
5. Australia (0.22%)
6. Netherlands (0.24%)
7. Norway (0.24%)
8. Sweden (0.27%)
9. Slovakia (0.29%)
10. Poland (0.31%)
Here are the 10 countries where menstrual products are the least affordable:
1. Algeria (14.8%)
2 (tie). Zambia (10.93%)
2 (tie). Nigeria (10.93%)
4. Ghana (9.39%)
5. Zimbabwe (9.27%)
6. Kyrgyzstan (9.05%)
7. Honduras (8.54%)
8. Jordan (8.38%)
9. Laos (8.33%)
10. Cambodia (7.74%)
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