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- UK Women’s Health and Hygiene Products Market Report 2025
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In the UK, 44% of women who experience period pain saywhere they are in their menstrual cycle impacts the severity of any health issues they have, underscoring the need for products and services that address cycle-specific health concerns. This can include innovation in menstrual care, broader wellbeing categories and personalised healthcare solutions, with this type of NPD likely to help brands better meet their audience’s needs through more targeted offerings.
Sanitary protection sales declined in 2024, as reusable options led consumers to buy fewer tampons or leave the category altogether, posing a threat to the women’s hygiene category. Disposable sanitary towels remain popular for their convenience, ideal for days when washing reusables isn’t an option, as well as pantyliners to help manage spotting and irregular bleeding.
Exciting prospects for the women’s health landscape are driven by innovative brands like Oura and Clue advancing women’s health through technology, closing the gender health data gap, and providing women with personalised tools to better understand their bodies. With wearable tech and tracking apps, women can make informed health decisions at every stage of life. This is an opportunity for brands to build trust and create solutions that empower women and enhance their quality of life.
This report looks at the following areas:
- How brands and retailers can drive women’s health and hygiene product usage at different lifestages
- Consumer priorities across women’s hygiene products, and how brands can respond
- Consumer experience of select health symptoms, including severity and how it impacts their daily routines
- The impact of social media trends and technology’s influence on the women’s health landscape
- Consumer understanding of different health conditions and attitudes towards the healthcare industry
- The next wave of inclusivity opportunities, including greater consideration of language and hormonal needs in NPD and marketing
A health epidemic, as women remain underserved and overlooked, presents opportunities for brands and retailers to step in.
Shiyan Zering, Beauty and Personal Care Analyst
Market Definitions
For the purposes of this Report, Mintel has used the following to define women’s hygiene.
Sanitary protection products
- Tampons, including both applicator and non-applicator tampons. Also includes scented tampons and those with other added benefits, such as lubricated, as well as reusable sponge tampons.
- Sanitary towels, including versions with or without wings. Includes reusable towels such as Eco Femme.
- Reusable menstrual cups, such as Mooncup (these products are included in the consumer research but are excluded from the market size data).
- Panty liners are also included, as they can be used with tampons or throughout the month to protect underwear.
Intimate hygiene products
- Throughout the Report, ‘intimate hygiene products’ refers to products including wipes, washes and deodorants that are PH-balanced and hypoallergenic.
- The market size and segmentation data only covers intimate hygiene products targeted toward women including: feminine creams, therapeutic gels, self-test kits and other female hygiene products.
Excluded
- Ancillary products, such as disposal bags and tampon containers, wallets and belts.
- Female lubricants (for more information on female lubricants see Mintel Report Sexual Health – UK – 2024).
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- Opportunities for the women’s health and hygiene market
- Invest in research to address healthcare disparities
- Educate women during critical lifestages
- Use technology to empower women with knowledge
- Market dynamics and outlook
- The outlook for women’s health
- Market size and forecast: sanitary protection and intimate hygiene
- Sanitary protection underperformed in 2024
- What consumers want and why
- Align product claims with lifestage needs
- Graph 1: self-reported lifestage and menstrual status, 2024
- Define precise benchmarks for symptom severity
- Graph 2: self-reported severity of health issues experienced in the last 12 months, 2024
- Boost visibility around more health conditions
- Graph 3: understanding of women’s health conditions, 2024
- Women are seeking function first from absorbent hygiene
- Graph 4: important factors when choosing sanitary protection products, 2024
- Ensure healthcare professionals value women’s health concerns
- Innovation and marketing
- Women are overlooked in the healthcare category
- Leverage active ingredients to elevate daily routines
- Offer natural alternatives to OTC medicines
- Intimate hygiene brands are modernising the category
- Call out skin safety on-pack in sanitary protection
- Account for every stage of a woman’s life in NPD
- Brands highlight real depictions of women’s menstrual and menopausal journeys
MARKET DYNAMICS
- Market drivers
- Be mindful of cost as consumers face economic hardships
- Graph 5: the financial confidence index, 2016-24
- Consider the impact of economic inequality on the health and hygiene industry
- Bridge the gender health gap
- Advances in women’s clinical research are accelerating, but there is still work to do
- Enhance brand reputation by advocating for women
- The rise of weight loss drugs will have wide-reaching implications
- Graph 6: interest in GLP-1, 2020-24
- Use AI thoughtfully
- Post-menopausal health is a key market in the ageing population
- Help menopausal women maintain their weight
- Graph 7: weight management goals, by menstrual cycle experienced, 2024
- Companies are stepping in to support teens
- Birth control preferences impact menstruation rates
- Delayed parenthood creates opportunities for NPD
- Acknowledge healthcare disparities among ethnic minority groups
WHAT CONSUMERS WANT AND WHY
- Self-reported lifestage and menstrual status
- Align product claims with lifestage needs
- Graph 8: NET of self-reported lifestage and menstrual status, 2024
- Graph 9: self-reported lifestage and menstrual status, 2024
- Help better prepare those with irregular cycles
- Prepare women for perimenopause earlier
- Severity of health symptoms experienced
- Women may be downplaying their symptoms
- Graph 10: self-reported severity of health symptoms experienced in the last 12 months, 2024
- Severe pain, sleep and mental wellbeing issues are common
- Women are seeking quick solutions to period pain
- Graph 11: types of treatment used for menstrual pain in the last 12 months, 2024
- Alleviate migraines experienced by women
- Menopausal women need further support
- Aid women looking to treat skin flare-ups
- Multiple symptoms disrupt lives
- Graph 12: those who’s menstrual cycle stage impacts the severity of health issues, by repertoire of severe health issues experienced in the last 12 months, 2024
- Graph 13: those who have had a health issue not taken seriously in the past, by repertoire of severe health issues experienced in the last 12 months, 2024
- Knowledge of women’s health conditions
- Greater visibility boosts awareness of select conditions
- Graph 14: understanding of women’s health conditions, 2024
- Harness menopause momentum through new avenues
- Teach younger women about PMS
- Differentiate between PCOS and endometriosis through awareness
- Raise awareness of lesser-known but common conditions
- Important factors when choosing sanitary protection
- Women rank absorbency above all…
- Graph 15: important factors when choosing sanitary protection products, 2024
- …but women with heavier periods need to consider more factors
- Graph 16: women with period pain that impacts their daily routine, by important factors when choosing sanitary protection products, 2024
- Graph 17: women with period pain that impacts their daily routine, by repertoire of important factors when choosing sanitary protection products, 2024
- Offer stronger absorbency for serious conditions
- Take inspiration from derma skincare for sanitary protection
- Address stigmas, while also offering stylish and discreet packaging for those who are embarrassed
- Improve testing for natural materials
- Expand ranges or launch hybrid sets for loyal users
- Create inclusive ads for underrepresented young people
- Graph 18: inclusive advertising as an important factor when choosing sanitary protection products and relatability of brand portrayals of women’s health, by age, 2024
- Attitudes towards healthcare professionals
- Help women advocate for themselves
- NHS backlog prevents women from receiving care…
- …so retailers can create more accessible support for those seeking answers
- Women are taking matters into their own hands
- The impact of hormones and menstruation on women
- Acknowledge the varied impact of menstruation
- Graph 19: the impact of hormones and menstruation on women, 2024
- Health issues vary depending on where women are in their cycle
- Graph 20: severity of health symptoms experienced in the last 12 months, by those agreeing severity of symptoms varies depending on stage of menstrual cycle, 2024
- Address the impact of menstrual cycles on mental health in younger women
- Health and hygiene related behaviours
- Daily impact of health issues and remedies
- Graph 21: health and hygiene related behaviours, 2024
- Menstruating women want to balance their hormones
- Graph 22: interest in ways to balance hormones, by self-reported lifestage and menstrual status, 2024
- Specialist hormonal care is garnering interest
- Understand the downsides of symptom tracking technology
- Attitudes towards health and hygiene product marketing
- Champion women and inclusivity
- Graph 23: attitudes towards health and hygiene product marketing, 2024
- Tech companies are putting their money where their mouth is
- Learn from babycare brands addressing black maternal health issues
- Be mindful of language used in women’s health and hygiene
INNOVATION AND MARKETING TRENDS
- OTC and VMS launch activity
- Female claims in healthcare NPD are relevatively niche
- Graph 24: new product launches in the healthcare category carrying female claims, 2020-24
- Develop innovative OTC remedies for period pains
- Bayer makes strides in menopause health research…
- …and NPD
- VMS brands focus on women’s health
- Provide natural alternatives to OTC remedies
- Expand peri- and post-menopause VMS ranges
- Clear brain fog with targeted VMS launch activity
- Excite the bladder care category
- Cross-category NPD can address sexual disfunction
- Shift the burden of fertility and conception responsibility
- Sanitary protection and intimate hygiene launch activity
- Sanitary protection leads in hygiene innovation
- Graph 25: new product launches in the sanitary protection, incontinence and intimate hygiene market*, 2021-24
- Incorporate sustainability into everyday choices
- Graph 26: top 10 claims in new product launches in the sanitary protection, incontinence and intimate hygiene market* (based on 2024), 2022-24
- Put trusted safety claims on-pack
- Create an experience for perineum and nipple care
- Menopause takes centre stage in intimate care
- Improve hygiene routines with dry-to-wipe formulas
- Scar care is a budding white space
- Support breast cancer charities and drive detection via NPD
- Explore microbiome-friendly innovation
- Advertising and marketing activity
- Sanitary protection saw a boost in ad spend
- Graph 27: recorded above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on sanitary protection, intimate hygiene and adult incontinence products, by media type, 2021-24
- Graph 28: recorded above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on sanitary protection, intimate hygiene and adult incontinence products, by category type, 2021-24
- P&G ramped up ad spend
- Graph 29: recorded above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on sanitary protection, intimate hygiene and adult incontinence products, by advertiser, 2023-24
- Tampax uses a celebrity for comedic storytelling…
- …as TENA takes action to tackle taboos
- Bodyform highlighted real depictions of women’s menstrual journeys
- Be wary of social media’s impact
- Celebrities are talking taboo
- Menopause gained a spotlight in advertising
- Nurofen wants to address the pain gap
APPENDIX
- Supplementary data
- Female population estimates
- Market data and methodology: sanitary protection and intimate hygiene
- Market size at constant and current prices
- Market forecast and prediction intervals
- Market segmentation
- Market share: sanitary protection products
- Market share: intimate hygiene products
- Forecast methodology
- Report scope and definitions
- Consumer research methodology
- Market definition
- Abbreviations and terms
- Nielsen Ad Intel coverage
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