China’s Oral Care Category Online Sales Up 13.3% Year-on-Year in the First Half of 2026, with Children’s Oral Care Track Growing Fastest

Image source: The Beijing News

DentalGoodNews｜According to Beijing News, on September 19, 2026, the China Oral Cleaning and Care Products Industry Association (hereinafter referred to as the "Association") held the "2026 Oral New Health Action · National Teeth Care Day" event in Beijing, disclosing industry operation data for January to July 2026: above-scale enterprises in the oral cleaning products manufacturing industry achieved revenue of 18.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.4%; total profits reached 2.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.9%, but the growth dividends were highly concentrated among leading players, with the number of loss-making enterprises in the industry increasing from 18 to 26. Industrial enterprise profit data released by the National Bureau of Statistics during the same period showed that the profit of the Manufacture of Dental Equipment and Instruments industry grew by 74.5% year-on-year, outpacing the growth rate of the oral cleaning and care consumer goods manufacturing segment.

In addition, data from the Association and Shangzhizhen (an e-commerce big data analysis platform) showed that in the first half of 2026, China's oral care category online sales reached 10.63 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.3%. Among subcategories, tooth powder online sales surged by 374.5% year-on-year from January to July; mouth spray is in an explosive phase, growing 56% year-on-year, albeit from a small base; dental floss and mouthwash grew 19% and 17% respectively. In contrast, Electric Toothbrush entered negative growth territory for the first time, with online sales of 2.48 billion yuan from January to July, down 2.5% year-on-year. Association Vice Chairman Cao Ruian stated that the electronic oral appliance category as a whole has entered a stage of stock competition.

The toothpaste category, the fundamental pillar of the oral care industry, remained steady. In the first half of 2026, national toothpaste production totaled 368,900 tons, a year-on-year increase of 22.7%. Domestic enterprises, with a 57.1% share of production and 29% growth, became the main engine of industry growth, while the growth rate of foreign-funded enterprises slowed to 17.2%. Data from the General Administration of Customs showed that from January to July, toothpaste export value reached 327 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 15.6%, demonstrating the competitiveness of Chinese manufacturing in the international market.

The "2026 Oral New Health Action · Technology White Paper" released at this meeting showed that the industry is transitioning from "cleaning tools" to "health management," with children's oral care being the fastest-growing subsegment with the most significant policy dividends; pet oral care has become an emerging growth point driven by the pet economy, with international giants such as Colgate, Mars, and Nestlé all having entered the market.

Furthermore, the White Paper pointed out that AI, edge algorithms, and big data have deeply penetrated into areas such as smart Electric Toothbrush and AI oral self-testing. Association Chairman Guo Qiang stated that AI is not an add-on to the oral industry but a core productivity driver, and the Association will continue to build a five-in-one collaborative platform integrating government, industry, academia, research, and application to promote the standardized application and large-scale implementation of AI technology in the oral health field.