Revenue of the feminine hygiene market worldwide by country 2018

It comes as no surprise that China and India, two countries with the largest populations, are also the two largest markets for feminine hygiene the world over, with revenues of around 8 billion U.S. dollars and 4.4 billion U.S. dollars respectively. However, it is not their revenue volumes that are as important as their scope for growth, with India being a particularly interesting market. Owing to its cultural and social stigmas, especially in rural areas, India still lacks overall awareness for feminine hygiene, with some studies estimating the number of women who still do not use sanitary products to be as high as 88%. Even though this situation is appalling, it also presents an opportunity for both, global brands such as Johnson & Johnson and P&G and indigenous firms such as Emami and Pari, to push their products across this untapped market. Interestingly, China which is a more progressive and sophisticated market as compared to India still hasn’t come to terms with the use of tampons. Among the main reasons for this is its cost as compared to a sanitary pad, low public awareness, inadequate access to sex-education and traditional taboos, especially in rural areas.

毫不意外，中国与印度，作为全球人口最多的两国，同时也是女性卫生用品市场的两大巨头，其市场规模分别达到约80亿美元和44亿美元。然而，相较于其庞大的收入规模，两国的市场增长潜力更为关键，其中印度市场尤为引人注目。由于文化和社会的偏见，尤其是在农村地区，印度在女性卫生意识方面仍显不足，一些研究估计，仍有高达88%的女性未使用卫生用品。尽管这一现状令人震惊，但也为全球品牌如强生（Johnson & Johnson）和宝洁（P&G）以及本土企业如艾美仕（Emami）和帕里（Pari）提供了在尚未开发的庞大市场中推广其产品的机会。有趣的是，相较于印度，中国市场虽然更加开放和成熟，但公众对卫生棉条的使用仍存在疑虑。其主要原因包括与卫生巾相比的成本较高、公众意识不足、性教育普及程度不够以及传统禁忌，尤其是在农村地区。