**Updated 18th April 2026, the original posting incorrectly had Huggies Baby wipes were made in China, whereas they are made in Singapore.
You may have seen the figure floating around that around 95% of baby wipes sold in Australia are made overseas. It gets repeated in industry commentary and the occasional news segment, but when we went looking for the underlying data behind that number, we came up short. So we decided to do something simple: walk into a supermarket, look at what's actually on the shelf, and check for ourselves.
This is the first in what we're hoping will become a longer-running series. The data here is limited — one aisle, one store, one chain — but it's a start, and the picture it paints is a striking one.
What we did
We visited a single Woolworths store and worked our way along the baby wipes aisle, noting every brand on the shelf and where the packaging said it was manufactured. Here's what we found:
- Huggies: Made in Singapore
- Tooshies: Made in China
- Thank you: Made in China
- Curash: Made in China
- Water Wipes: Made in Ireland
- GAIA: Australian Made
- Bunjie: Australian Made
Then, to get a sense of how dominant each origin country was visually — i.e. how much of the aisle a shopper actually sees taken up by each — we covered every product facing with a flag of its country of origin and measured the share of shelf space each one occupied.
The result
The breakdown of visual shelf space:
- China: ~73%
- Singapore: ~11%
- Australia: ~8%
- Ireland: ~8%
Three of the seven brands stocked are made in China, but those three brands also happen to be the big-volume names that occupy the most facings. The two Australian-made brands and the single Irish-made brand are present, but they're a relatively small slice of what a shopper actually sees as they walk past.
How this compares to the 95% claim
Our roughly estimated 92% figure for imported product is very close to the 95% number we've seen quoted, but of course it's not the same measure. So while we can't verify the 95% number directly, what we saw on the shelf is broadly consistent with the idea that the overwhelming majority of baby wipes sold in Australia are made elsewhere.
The caveats (there are several)
We want to be upfront about what this snapshot is and isn't:
- It's one store. Stock varies between locations, and a single Woolworths in one suburb isn't representative of the chain, let alone the country.
- It's one chain. Coles, ALDI, Chemist Warehouse, Big W, independent pharmacies and online retailers all carry different ranges, and the mix could look quite different elsewhere.
- It's visual shelf space, not sales. A brand can dominate the shelf without dominating the trolley, and vice versa. What we measured is what shoppers see, not necessarily what they buy.
- It's a point in time. Stock levels, promotions and supplier relationships shift constantly.
So please treat this as indicative rather than definitive — a useful first data point, not a final answer.
What's next
We're planning to repeat this exercise across more stores, more chains, and more product categories to build a clearer picture of how much of what's on Australian shelves is actually made here. If the pattern we saw at Woolworths holds up across other retailers, the conversation about local manufacturing in everyday categories like baby care is overdue for a closer look.
If you've done a similar audit at your local store, or you work in the industry and have data that would help refine these numbers, we'd love to hear from you.
In the meantime, if you'd like to buy some Australian made wipes, try Kine's today: Order here
