About 1.8 billion people worldwide menstruate each month, according to UNICEF’s current global estimate. The available evidence shows that menstrual hygiene is shaped by products, water and sanitation, privacy, education, affordability, social expectations and crisis conditions, with measures varying substantially by country and study.
Key Menstrual Hygiene Statistics
The most broadly useful figures cover need, facilities, product use, participation and policy:
- About 1.8 billion people worldwide menstruate each month, according to UNICEF’s current estimate.
- Reusable menstrual materials were reported by 12.1% of women and girls aged 15–49 across 38 LMICs in surveys conducted in 2017–2019.
- Rural reusable-material use was 23.9%, compared with 6.2% in urban areas across the same 38-country analysis in 2017–2019.
- Unmet menstrual-hygiene need ranged from 34.2% in Ghana to 74.8% in Burkina Faso in the PMA 2020 six-country analysis.
- Only 39% of schools globally provided menstrual-health education during the WHO/UNICEF 2015–2023 reporting period.
- Only 31% of schools globally had menstrual-waste bins in girls’ toilets during the 2015–2023 reporting period.
- 42% of girls and adolescents under 15 in Mexico reported lacking basic supplies or adequate hygiene conditions at school in 2025.
- 31% of girls and adolescents under 15 in Mexico reported missing school during their period in 2025.
- Reusable-material use ranged from 0.5% in Serbia to 97.2% in Sao Tome and Principe across the 42 surveys conducted in 2017–2019.
- 84.6% of respondents in Chad reported reusable-material use in the 2019 MICS-based estimate.
- 75% of surveyed women and girls in Kinshasa could not lock their main menstrual-hygiene space in the eight-country study period.
- 96.1% of the Kinshasa study sample lacked all six measured safe, clean and private conditions for menstrual hygiene.
- Lack of access to sanitary pads pooled at 34% in humanitarian-crisis studies in LMIC settings, with a 95% confidence interval of 24%–45%.
- Menstrual-related absenteeism pooled at 15.0% across 44 LMICs in MICS survey periods analyzed in a 2024 study.
- Menstrual-related absenteeism pooled at 19.7% in South Asia across the analyzed MICS survey periods.
- 66% of Mexican respondents reported little or no information at first menstruation in the 2025 national survey.
- The share of Mexican respondents without emergency menstrual products at school or work rose from 56% in 2022 to 67% in 2025.
- Over 60% of countries reporting to GLAAS included menstrual health and hygiene in WASH policies and plans in the 2024–2025 data.
- Only 25% of reporting countries had menstrual-health-and-hygiene coverage targets in the 2024–2025 GLAAS data.
Contents
- Global menstrual hygiene scale and unmet need
- Menstrual hygiene education and school facilities
- Product use and reusable-material trends
- Access, poverty and safe menstrual-hygiene spaces
- Humanitarian crises and participation
- National survey and policy coverage data
Global Menstrual Hygiene Statistics and Unmet Need
UNICEF estimates that about 1.8 billion people worldwide menstruate each month. This is a global estimate rather than a survey denominator or a full time series, so it describes scale, not the prevalence of any particular hygiene condition. UNICEF: Menstrual hygiene
The strongest cross-country product-use comparison in the supplied evidence comes from 42 MICS surveys conducted in 2017–2019 across 38 low-, lower-middle- and upper-middle-income countries.
| Measure | Result | Population and period |
|---|---|---|
| Reusable-material use, overall | 12.1% | Women and girls aged 15–49; 38 LMICs, 2017–2019 |
| Reusable-material use, rural | 23.9% | Rural respondents; 38 LMICs, 2017–2019 |
| Reusable-material use, urban | 6.2% | Urban respondents; 38 LMICs, 2017–2019 |
| Unmet need, Ghana | 34.2% | Women of reproductive age; PMA 2020 |
| Unmet need, Burkina Faso | 74.8% | Women of reproductive age; PMA 2020 |
The PMA analysis also measured unmet need at 69.9% in Ethiopia, 65.2% in Uganda, 57.8% in Niger and 53.5% in Kenya. Its composite definition covered resources, facilities and supplies, and these country estimates are not global prevalence figures. PMA six-country study
Menstrual Hygiene Education Statistics and School Facilities
WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme reporting for 2015–2023 found that only 39% of schools globally provided menstrual-health education, with data coverage of 33% and varying national indicator definitions. The regional contrast in Central and Southern Asia was 84% of secondary schools and 34% of primary schools, which measure different school populations. WHO: Global report reveals major gaps in menstrual health and hygiene in schools
Waste management was also incomplete: only 31% of schools globally had bins for menstrual waste in girls’ toilets, based on 32% data coverage. A bin’s presence does not show whether it is regularly emptied or whether disposal is safe.
Mexico’s 2025 national survey illustrates how school conditions and information can diverge:
- 42% of girls and adolescents under 15 reported lacking basic supplies or adequate hygiene conditions at school.
- 31% of girls and adolescents under 15 reported missing school during their period.
- Only 4% of respondents aged 12–70 said school was their source of menstrual information.
- 75% of respondents aged 12–70 did not know that the menstrual cycle has four phases.
- 71% said they first encountered menstrual information in the family, while digital platforms were the main information source for 52%.
These are survey responses, not administrative counts, and the information-source measures do not assess curriculum accuracy or quality. UNICEF Mexico: Brechas en gestión menstrual en México: nueva encuesta nacional
Menstrual Product Use and Reusable-Material Trends
Reported reusable-material use varied from 0.5% in Serbia to 97.2% in Sao Tome and Principe across the 42 surveys. The range reflects differing access and contexts, not a ranking of product safety, adequacy or preference.
| Country | Reusable-material use | Survey period |
|---|---|---|
| Bangladesh | 68.7% | 2019 |
| Central African Republic | 65.3% | 2018–2019 |
| Chad | 84.6% | 2019 |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 58.8% | 2017–2018 |
The study found strong adjusted associations with socioeconomic and regional characteristics. Compared with respondents in the richest group, poor respondents had adjusted odds of reusable-material use of 5.06 overall, 4.54 in rural areas and 2.86 in urban areas; these are model-based associations, not causal estimates.
Respondents with primary or no education had adjusted odds of 1.96 overall, 3.03 in rural areas and 1.84 in urban areas compared with those with higher education. South Asian respondents had adjusted odds of 72.63 overall, 84.92 rural and 64.94 urban relative to the study’s reference region, while low-income-country respondents had adjusted odds of 11.10 overall, 26.90 rural and 3.58 urban versus upper-middle-income-country respondents.
A private washing place was associated with adjusted odds of reuse of 1.09 overall. The analysis adjusted for listed demographic and country variables, and its cross-sectional design does not establish causation. Peer-reviewed reusable-material analysis
Menstrual Hygiene Access, Poverty and Safe Facilities
Facility access is multidimensional: the eight-country period-poverty study considered cleanliness, privacy, safety, lockability, water and soap. Missing any one of the six conditions counted as lacking all six in the composite measure.
| Location | Could not lock space | Lacked all six conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Kinshasa, DRC | 75% | 96.1% |
| Ethiopia | 73% | 88.3% |
| Rajasthan, India | 49% | Not supplied |
| Kenya | 31% | Not supplied |
| Indonesia | Not supplied | 29.4% |
In Kinshasa, 83% lacked water and 84% lacked soap in the main menstrual-hygiene space. In Ethiopia, 51% reported that the space was not clean and 51% said it was not safe.
Product categories also differed across the study. Non-use of sanitary pads was 54% in Rajasthan, 41% in Ethiopia, 37% in Nigeria and 36% in Uganda, compared with 17% in Kinshasa, 14% in Kenya, 10% in Ghana and 9% in Indonesia.
Non-use of pads does not necessarily mean that no menstrual material was used. Understanding Period Poverty
Humanitarian Crisis Menstrual Hygiene Statistics and Participation
Humanitarian evidence is heterogeneous, so ranges and pooled estimates should be read together. Across crisis studies in LMICs, lack of access to sanitary pads ranged from 13% to 76%, with a pooled prevalence of 34% and a 95% confidence interval of 24%–45%.
Appropriate sanitary-pad disposal ranged from 11% to 85%, while the pooled estimate was 54% with a very wide 95% confidence interval of 21%–86%. Definitions and crisis settings differed across studies, limiting direct comparison. Systematic review of MHM during humanitarian crises
Participation data from a 2024 cross-sectional analysis of MICS surveys covered 44 LMICs:
- Menstrual-related absenteeism pooled at 15.0% (95% CI 12.7%–17.3%).
- The pooled estimate was 19.7% in South Asia (95% CI 11.6%–27.8%).
- The pooled estimate was 18.5% in West and Central Africa (95% CI 13.5%–23.5%).
- Relative to ages 15–19, the adjusted prevalence ratio was 0.92 among ages 20–24 and 0.75 among ages 35–39.
- Having a private place to wash at home was associated with an adjusted absenteeism prevalence ratio of 1.25 (95% CI 1.05–1.48), an observational association that may reflect confounding or reporting differences.
Absenteeism was self-reported, and survey definitions may vary. The results do not show that product access or private washing facilities cause attendance changes. Epidemiology of menstrual-related absenteeism
National Menstrual Health Survey and Policy Coverage Data
The 2025 Mexico survey found that 66% of respondents aged 12–70 had little or no information at first menstruation. In the same survey, 34% stopped activities because of menstrual pain, 33% avoided activities because they feared staining and 92% said menstruation should not be viewed as something bad to discuss.
Access indicators changed in different directions between 2022 and 2025. The share without emergency menstrual products at school or work rose from 56% to 67%, including 57% among respondents under 15 in 2025; difficulty acquiring menstrual-management products fell from 30% to 21%.
These changes come from two survey waves and may reflect sample or question differences as well as real change. The survey does not provide comparable household spending totals. UNICEF Mexico national survey
Policy indicators show growing recognition but limited target-setting. In WHO GLAAS 2024–2025 data, over 60% of reporting countries included menstrual health and hygiene in WASH policies and plans, but only 25% had menstrual-health-and-hygiene coverage targets.
Over 30% of water-and-sanitation official development assistance disbursements had a significant gender-equality component in 2023, although that category is broader than menstrual hygiene. External aid comprised less than 18% of total WASH funding globally in the GLAAS analysis, and neither figure identifies menstrual-health spending specifically. GLAAS 2024/2025 report key findings