The padding-inline-end property controls the padding placed on the "end" side of an element along its inline axis. Because it is a logical property, it expresses padding in terms of the flow of text rather than a fixed physical side such as left or right. The padding this property sets becomes part of the element’s box: it increases the space between the element’s content and its border on the inline end side and is included in painting (background, clip) and hit-testing behavior.

This logical behavior means the effect of padding-inline-end depends on the element’s writing direction and orientation. For horizontal left-to-right text the inline end maps to the physical right side, while for right-to-left text it maps to the physical left; in vertical writing modes the inline axis runs top-to-bottom (or bottom-to-top), so the property can correspond to a top or bottom physical edge. How the inline axis is defined is influenced by the element’s writing-mode and the inline progression direction is affected by the direction property.

When you use logical padding properties together they interact predictably: padding-inline is the shorthand that can set both inline start and inline end at once, and the complementary longhand padding-inline-start addresses the opposite inline side. In layout calculations, whether padding contributes to an element’s outer size depends on the element’s box-sizing model; percentage paddings are resolved relative to the containing block’s inline size rather than its block size.

Using logical properties like padding-inline-end simplifies localization and responsive design because you don’t need to switch physical left/right values when the text direction or writing mode changes. It also pairs naturally with logical margins such as margin-inline-end when you want consistent spacing behavior across different directions. Overall, padding-inline-end gives you a direction-agnostic way to control inline-side spacing while keeping layout behavior consistent as writing modes or directions vary.