Vitamins are particularly expensive in Taiwan, China. GNC (General Nutrition Centers) prices differ by 3 times, and Japan's DHC prices differ by 1 time.
Text / Consumers Foundation
On June 5, 2014, the Food and Drug Administration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare suddenly announced that, in order to prevent unscrupulous operators from taking advantage of trips abroad to bring back large quantities of medicines to Taiwan for resale at a profit, starting in July 2015, people buying vitamins, gastrointestinal medicines and other drugs while abroad would need to apply in advance if they exceeded the allowed quantity, and mailing medicines back to Taiwan from abroad would require advance application in all cases, with violators facing up to ten years in prison.
The move caused an uproar among the public and triggered a backlash of protests; to respond to public sentiment, the FDA announced on December 23, 2014 that it planned to relax the restrictions and would invite relevant agencies to discuss relaxing the rules and the upper limit for bringing medicines into the country.
After a tortuous process, the Food and Drug Administration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare finally announced on January 17, 2015 that, whether traditional Chinese medicine, Western medicine or health foods, a maximum of six types could be carried, with a maximum of twelve bottles of each type, and the total number must not exceed thirty-six bottles; for contact lenses, a maximum of sixty lenses of the same prescription, and at most two different prescriptions.
The Lunar New Year holiday has just passed recently, and many travelers took the opportunity of their trips to bring medicines (and foods) back to Taiwan. To understand just how large the price gap is between medicines at home and abroad, the Consumers Foundation specifically selected health foods (two representative health food brands, GNC of the United States and DHC of Japan), and compared prices using the same items on their official websites. The results found price differences of about 1.4 to 4.1 times, and such a gap confirmed the rumor that "medicines and vitamins abroad are far cheaper than at home."
The following are the Consumers Foundation's survey results:
◎ GNC of the United States, average price difference about 3 times
When it comes to the biggest price gap between foreign vitamins and those in Taiwan, nowhere beats the United States! For this reason, whether people go to the United States to study, travel or immigrate, buying some vitamins on behalf of family and friends to bring back to Taiwan is almost a must-do on everyone's itinerary. Therefore, this survey used the American GNC chain of health foods as a sample and selected five more popular items for comparison. GNC's official websites in both the United States and Taiwan distinguish between member prices and regular prices, so in the GNC part the comparison will be made using both regular prices and member prices.
The first vitamin, "lutein":
In Taiwan, GNC names it (1-1) Excellent Vision Capsule Food: regular price NT2,850 / member price NT2,280, which converts to a per-capsule price of NT47.5 (yuan/capsule) at regular price / NT38 (yuan/capsule) at member price;
(1-2) LUTEIN: regular price $21.99 (about NT694.4) / member price $19.79 (about NT624.9), per-capsule price NT11.6 (yuan/capsule) at regular price / NT10.4 (yuan/capsule) at member price.
Looking at the per-capsule price, for the regular price the price in Taiwan differs from the price in the United States by 4.1 times, and for the member price by 3.7 times.
The second vitamin, "calcium citrate" (2-1) Calcium Citrate Tablets:
Taiwan GNC price: regular price NT1,650 / member price NT1,320, which converts to a per-tablet price of NT9.2 (yuan/tablet) at regular price / NT7.3 (yuan/tablet) at member price;
(2-2) Calcium Citrate Plus with Vitamin D-3: regular price $13.99 (about NT441.8) / member price $12.59 (about NT397.6), per-tablet price NT2.5 (yuan/tablet) at regular price / NT2.2 (yuan/tablet) at member price.
Looking at the per-tablet price, for the regular price the price in Taiwan differs from the price in the United States by 3.7 times, and for the member price by 3.3 times.
The third vitamin, "folic acid" (3-1) Folic Acid 800 Tablets:
Taiwan GNC price: regular price NT650 / member price NT520, which converts to a per-tablet price of NT6.5 (yuan/tablet) at regular price / NT5.2 (yuan/tablet) at member price;
(3-2) Folic Acid 800: regular price $5.99 (about NT189.1) / member price $5.39 (about NT170.2), per-tablet price NT1.9 (yuan/tablet) at regular price / NT1.7 (yuan/tablet) at member price.
Looking at the per-tablet price, for the regular price the price in Taiwan differs from the price in the United States by 3.4 times, and for the member price by 3.1 times.
The fourth vitamin, "lecithin" (4-1) Triple-Action Lecithin Capsule Food:
Taiwan GNC price: regular price NT2,190 / member price NT1,752, which converts to a per-capsule price of NT12.2 (yuan/capsule) at regular price / NT9.7 (yuan/capsule) at member price;
(4-2) Triple Lecithin 1200: regular price $19.99 (about NT631.2) / member price $17.99 (about NT568.1), per-capsule price NT3.5 (yuan/capsule) at regular price / NT3.2 (yuan/capsule) at member price.
Looking at the per-capsule price, for the regular price the price in Taiwan differs from the price in the United States by 3.5 times, and for the member price by 3 times.
The fifth vitamin, "fish oil" (5-1) Triple-Action Fish Oil 1500 Capsule Food:
Taiwan GNC price: regular price NT2,050 / member price NT1,640, which converts to a per-capsule price of NT34.2 (yuan/capsule) at regular price / NT27.3 (yuan/capsule) at member price;
(4-2) Triple Strength Fish Oil 1500: regular price $26.99 (about NT852.3) / member price $24.29 (about NT767), per-capsule price NT14.2 (yuan/capsule) at regular price / NT12.8 (yuan/capsule) at member price.
Looking at the per-capsule price, for the regular price the price in Taiwan differs from the price in the United States by 2.4 times, and for the member price by 2.1 times.
From the above price comparison results, the price gap between the United States and Taiwan for GNC is about 3 times, with lutein showing the largest gap and fish oil the smallest.
◎ Neighboring Japan's DHC, price difference about 1 time
As for vitamins, although the price gap with the United States is larger, because the distance is greater and airfare is more expensive, Japan, also in Asia, has become a popular destination for people in Taiwan to buy medicines and vitamins. Whether traveling with a tour group or independently, drugstores in Japan are a must-visit, and tour guides even thoughtfully compile lists of which items are must-buys.
Therefore, for this price comparison of Japanese medicines, the brand DHC was chosen as the sample for comparison.
The first, "vitamin C" (6-1) DHC Vitamin C (30-day supply):
Sold on Taiwan's DHC official website: NT180, which converts to a per-tablet price of NT2 (yuan/tablet);
(6-2) Vitamin C (Hard Capsules): tax included ¥270 (about NT72.8), per-tablet price NT1.2 (yuan/tablet).
Looking at the per-tablet price, the difference is 1.7 times.
The second, "blueberry extract" (7-1) DHC Blueberry Extract:
Sold on Taiwan's DHC official website: NT680, which converts to a per-tablet price of NT11.3 (yuan/tablet);
(7-2) DHC Blueberry Extract: tax included ¥906 (about NT244.3), per-tablet price NT4.1 (yuan/tablet).
Looking at the per-tablet price, the difference is 2.8 times.
The third, "Garcinia cambogia extract" (8-1) DHC Garcinia Cambogia Extract:
Sold on Taiwan's DHC official website: NT420, which converts to a per-tablet price of NT2.8 (yuan/tablet);
(8-2) Garcinia Extract 30-day supply: tax included ¥1,134 (about NT305.7), per-tablet price NT2 (yuan/tablet).
Looking at the per-tablet price, the difference is 1.4 times.
The fourth, "multivitamin" (9-1) DHC Multivitamin:
Sold on Taiwan's DHC official website: NT260, which converts to a per-tablet price of NT8.7 (yuan/tablet);
(9-2) Multivitamin 30-day supply: tax included ¥381 (about NT102.7), per-tablet price NT3.4 (yuan/tablet).
Looking at the per-tablet price, the difference is 2.6 times.
The fifth, "royal jelly" (9-1) DHC Royal Jelly:
Sold on Taiwan's DHC official website: NT690, which converts to a per-tablet price of NT7.7 (yuan/tablet);
(9-2) Royal Jelly 30-day supply: tax included ¥1,123 (about NT302.8), per-tablet price NT3.4 (yuan/tablet).
Looking at the per-tablet price, the difference is 2.3 times.
Based on the above price-check results, the price gap for Japanese vitamins is smaller than for American ones, at an average of about 1 time. It is worth noting that the (6-1) DHC Vitamin C (30-day supply) sold in Taiwan has a content unit of 500mg, but the (6-2) Vitamin C (Hard Capsules) sold in Japan actually has 1000mg. Not only is the Japanese dosage higher than Taiwan's, but the price is also cheaper than in Taiwan. No wonder people from Taiwan can always be seen in Japanese drugstores, shuttling through the aisles and buying in large quantities.
In addition, according to the 2013 GDP of various countries (per capita gross domestic product) published by the International Monetary Fund, the GDP of the United States was 53,001 US dollars, the GDP of Japan was 38,468 US dollars, and the GDP of Taiwan was 20,925 US dollars; so the national income of the United States is 2.5 times that of our country, and Japan's is 1.8 times that of our country. People in Taiwan have relatively low incomes, yet must pay higher prices than the citizens of other countries to buy the same goods. No wonder consumers fight high prices with "my own vitamins, I'll buy them abroad myself"!