Press Release / Industry / INDIA SANITARY NAPKIN MARKET IS LIKELY TO REPRESENT THE EXPONENTIAL CURVE IN TERMS OF REVENUE DURING FORECAST PERIOD: BONAFIDE RESEARCH

INDIA SANITARY NAPKIN MARKET IS LIKELY TO REPRESENT THE EXPONENTIAL CURVE IN TERMS OF REVENUE DURING FORECAST PERIOD: BONAFIDE RESEARCH

Rising awareness, growing young girls population with changing preference, increasing proportion of working women population, launching convenient product variants, increasing availability and promotional activities by government initiatives and other entities are the foremost growth dynamics for sanitary napkin market in India.
India feminine hygiene market includes the segment of sanitary napkin, pantyliner, tampon and other feminine hygiene products such as internal cleanser & spray and disposable razor & blade. Sanitary napkin is largest revenue generating product amongst the all categories. Menstruation is taboo in India as people have lots of myths regarding the same and hence the menstrual hygiene management is the burning issue in India. The low consumption level of sanitary napkins is controversy in the Indian market. If focus on the market, the category has presented significant growth in both value and volume terms in past few years. The sanitary napkins market is mainly driven by the urban female consumers as they are shifting towards hygiene side which never let them to compromise when matter comes of hygiene and health, especially during menstruation phase. With growing awareness related to proper menstrual hygiene among consumers push them towards the usage of sanitary protection products like sanitary napkins. Furthermore, women are now becoming financial independent mainly due to escalating proportion of working women, which increases the decision power of women in terms of purchasing practices.

In contrast, the ratio of women who uses only sanitary napkins during menstruation period is too small. The consumption and penetration level for this product is relatively low as compared to other emerging Asian markets. This is the consequence of low awareness of menstruation hygiene management, issue of affordability and availability of substitute items such as cotton cloth. Majority of women are unaware about the availability of sanitary napkins and how to use it. And the aware women consumers cannot afford this as they consider it as luxury product. They spend money for the basic household grocery such as milk, regular condiments, etc rather than spending on sanitary napkins as they have option of using cloth during those days. The government initiatives like ASHA, Taruni Suvidha Programme, etc have taken place in India with the objective of increasing awareness of menstruation hygiene among rural women and girls. Government of India distributes free sanitary napkin among rural girls which increases the knowledge of product and its features. The market entities organize the campaigns, seminar and sessions in many rural and urban schools of the country for the same awareness purpose.

According to recently published report of Bonafide Research “India Feminine Hygiene Market Outlook, 2021”, Sanitary napkin market is anticipated to showcase the CAGR of over 19% during the forecast period. The sanitary napkin market is catching the upward trend in terms of revenue. Overall feminine hygiene products are expected to register more than 18.36% CAGR in the next five years. The market is mainly driven by the sanitary napkin products, whereas the pantyliner, tampon and other products are very small categories in India. Pantyliner and tampon market is witnessing the slow growth owing to low awareness related to products, less availability, high prices and presence of few players. Internal cleansers and sprays are limited to rich consumers in metro cities. The availability of substitute products like hair removing creams, wax creams, etc restrict the growth of disposable razors and blades market as women consumers commonly avoid shaving practices.

According to Zalak Bhavsar, Research Analyst with Bonafide Research, “As Indian consumers mostly trust on menstruation taboos, it is hard for consumers to open up with the talk regarding menstruation. This restricts the purchase of sanitary napkins in many areas. However, many religious are now breaking cultural taboos related to menstruation and revolutionizing the purchasing habits in urban parts. Moreover, the population of young girl’s is escalating in India who does not believe such social myths. Hence, eventually, the sanitary napkin market will represent the exponential curve in value as well as volume terms during forecast period”.

Major companies operating in the feminine hygiene market of India are P&G Hygiene and Health Care Ltd., Johnson and Johnson India Pvt. Ltd., Unicharm India Pvt. Ltd., Emami Ltd., and Kimberly-Clark Pvt. Ltd.