Always products are displayed on a shelf at a supermarket in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina on October 29, 2024.
Dado Ruvik | reuters
Prices on store shelves have increased over the years due to rising inflation and constantly changing tariff policies, straining consumers’ budgets.
An often overlooked example: menstrual products.
The average price of menstrual products, including sanitary pads and tampons, has increased nearly 40% since 2020, from about $5.37 per unit to $7.43 per unit, according to February data from Chicago-based market research firm Circana.
According to Circana, dollar sales of menstrual products have increased nearly 30% over the same period.
But at the same time, according to NielsenIQ data, sales of menstrual products — which broadly include pads, tampons, liners and more — have seen a decline of about 6% since 2022, falling incrementally every year.
The data analytics company noted that the average unit price of items across stores has seen an increase, with dollar volume of consumer packaged goods up 2.7% year-over-year. Those price increases are in line with climbing inflation, with the latest consumer price index in February seeing an annual increase of 2.4%.
The latest CPI data found that inflation in personal care products in the US rose dramatically, up 22.1% in February from January 2020.
But since menstrual products are a necessity for a large portion of the population, those costs may put consumers at a disadvantage.
“I think we’re at a point where consumers in general have to choose whether they can buy food for their family, or buy prescriptions for their family. Some things that we typically define as a necessity, people are finding alternatives to them or going without,” said Sarah Broyd, partner at consultancy firm Clarkston Consulting.
Broyd said the difference between higher prices and falling sales shows consumers are looking for alternatives out of necessity.
It is not just menstrual products that have been hit by inflation. According to government data, the US collected $115 million through tariffs on cotton-containing menstrual products in 2025, compared to only $42 million in 2020.
America imported According to the World Bank, most of its menstrual products in 2024 will come from Canada, China and Mexico. President Donald Trump has imposed varying levels of tariffs on all three of those countries over the past year.
Those extra costs come on top of the so-called “pink tax,” where some states charge a sales tax on menstrual products. According to 2025 data from Statista, Tennessee, Mississippi and Indiana highest sales tax 7% on menstrual products. Products that are deemed “medical devices” are often excluded from sales tax.
‘A subscription service for being a woman’
For 30-year-old Daphna Diamant, the rising prices of menstrual products have become noticeable at the cash register and are impacting her monthly expenses.
The New York resident said she’s seen her usual pack of about 18 tampons rise to about $25, especially in the last year.
“It’s crazy, and it feels like, as a woman, you sometimes have to pay $50 every two months,” Diament told CNBC. “And it impacts some people’s income.”
Diament said she feels especially frustrated because this is not a monthly expense she can do without. She often purchases store-brand period products from retailers cvs And WalgreensYet he said he was still shocked by the sticker price.
“To be a woman it still feels like a subscription service,” Diamant told CNBC. “You have to pay every month to be fertile.”
Even big companies have felt its impact. Procter & GambleThe parent company of menstrual product brand Always said in July that it was raising prices on 25% of its personal care and household products due to a total annual tariff impact of $1 billion. According to the company, it manufactures its Always products in Maine, Utah and Canada.
P&G declined to comment for this story.
Kimberly-ClarkThe maker of menstrual product brand Coatex said on an earnings call in April that the tariffs cost the company a total of $300 million gross, more than half of which was related to tariffs on China. The company did not respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.
Broyd, a partner at Clarkston Consulting, said menstrual products have been hit with a “triple whammy” of rising raw material costs, inflation in energy and supply chains, and cross-border friction from tariffs.
“When you think about plastics and pulp and some of the core components of feminine care products, they’re probably coming from overseas and then they’re being hit with a lot of tariffs,” Broyd said.
She said these tariffs are on top of already alleged high duties on other women’s products, which is a matter of Congress. Pink Tariff Study Act It was introduced by Democrats last year to determine whether the US tariff system is “regressive” or has a “gender bias”.
As prices continue to rise, Broyd said he believes companies will continue to reevaluate their portfolios and potentially sell their feminine care lines to focus on higher margin businesses. In November, Edgewell Personal Care sold my feminine care business To a Swedish company for $340 million.
“You’re seeing these more niche, more startup type brands that are coming into stores. …That’s the biggest growth,” Broyd said. “People who have the ability to step up and buy more organic or products they trust will pay that price premium. But for other consumers who don’t have the discretionary income to do so, they will trade down and take private label, or go without it.”
The rise of reusable items
Diament said she and her friends are now trying period underwear instead of single-use products to streamline their expenses.
A large number of people are trying out reusable products, mainly because they are eco-friendly and cheap.
Major manufacturers often rely on brand loyalty for their products, which may suffer if consumers turn to alternatives.
“If you’re in Women’s Care, you’ll use Quotex for 40 years. If you’re in Depend, you’ll use Depend for 40 years, right?” Kimberly-Clark CEO Michael Hsu said on a November earnings call. “There’s long-term frequency. There’s a lot of spend for consumers, and because of that, they want to have an ongoing relationship with us.”
Salt, a reusable period products company that offers cups, discs and underwear, said it estimates that 16% to 20% of U.S. consumers have tried or used reusable menstrual products, including mostly younger consumers.
“The savings are huge,” CEO Cheri Hoeger told CNBC. “When you look at our product, a cup or disc can last up to 10 years, and our product is only in the $30 price range. … They’re able to save up to $1,800 over the lifetime of that cup or disc, and that’s on the low end.”
Salt, which launched in 2018, achieved eight-figure revenues in its third year of business, Hoeger said. The company declined to disclose its financials, but said demand has increased year-on-year since launch.
Among Generation Z, Hoeger said the top reason for switching to reusable items is pricing.
“They usually have some fascination with sustainability and climate change, but it’s never their number one,” Hoeger said.
The growth of reusable items may contribute to declining sales of single-use period products over the past few years. This also matches recent studies This indicates that tampons may contain lead or other harmful substances. The Food and Drug Administration investigated the presence of metals. determined There was no risk.
Riding on that momentum, other companies like Nix, Meluna, Flex and others have entered the reusable space and have gained increasing market share as consumers search for alternatives.
“Affordability is the core thing; that’s the core problem,” Hoeger said. “Without affordability of these period products, there will be real economic consequences for women.”
