By Timothy S. Donahue
Top Takeaways:
- Market crossover in 2025: More than 19 million online orders show nicotine pouches surpassed snus in both Sweden and Norway last year.
- Shift strongest among women: Women began buying more pouches than snus in 2022; men still skew toward snus—for now.
- Harm reduction narrative grows: Researchers say the data reinforce pouches’ potential to displace higher-risk combustible products.
Nicotine pouches have officially surpassed traditional snus in Sweden and Norway, according to a newly published analysis in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, based on more than 19.5 million e-commerce orders from 2018 through September 2025.
The cross-sectional study—sponsored by Haypp Group—analyzed 19,528,087 purchases by more than 1.7 million unique customers across seven online retail platforms in the two Nordic markets. The findings show that in 2025, nicotine pouches accounted for 55% of oral nicotine product volume in Sweden and 56% in Norway, surpassing snus for the first time in both countries.
In Sweden, pouch volume share rose from 5% in 2018 to 55% in 2025, while snus declined from 95% to 45% over the same period. In Norway, pouches increased from 22% to 56%, while snus fell from 78% to 44%.
The data come from age-verified online transactions, in which customers’ birth dates and gender are authenticated using government-issued identification numbers and payment service providers, then anonymized for analysis.
Researchers noted that nicotine pouches differ from Swedish-style snus in that they contain no tobacco leaf. Prior chemical analyses cited in the study indicate that pouches contain “substantially fewer and lower levels of toxicants compared with snus,” with toxicant profiles similar to those of pharmaceutical nicotine replacement therapies.
Women were the first demographic group to cross over. According to the study, women began purchasing more nicotine pouches than snus in 2022. Men in both countries still buy more snus than pouches, though the researchers suggest that trend could reverse if current patterns continue through 2026.
The authors place the findings within the broader Scandinavian “Swedish experience,” in which male smokers shifted from cigarettes to snus beginning in the 1970s, contributing to a steep decline in daily smoking rates. The paper cites long-term epidemiological data showing lower rates of tobacco-related disease in Sweden than in other EU countries.
“The data show early evidence of market displacement in both countries,” the authors wrote, adding that similar U.S. findings suggest nicotine pouches “could be reshaping nicotine consumption in ways aligned with tobacco harm reduction.”
The study acknowledges limitations, including reliance on sales data from a single e-commerce company. However, the platforms analyzed represent a significant share of the Nordic online market. National surveys in Norway do not yet distinguish between snus and nicotine pouches, and Sweden began differentiating the categories only in 2022, limiting official comparisons.
Haypp Group AB was involved in the study’s design, data collection, analysis, and the decision to publish. The company operates online retail platforms in Sweden and Norway and sells non-combustible nicotine products. The authors state that the data were fully anonymized and that no ethical review was required under Swedish law or the EU GDPR.
While the study frames nicotine pouches as a potential harm-reduction tool for adults who choose to use nicotine, it reiterates that nicotine is addicting and “should not be used by vulnerable populations such as youth, pregnant women, and individuals with certain health conditions.”
For an industry closely watching the evolution of oral nicotine, the takeaway is clear: in Scandinavia—the birthplace of modern snus—nicotine pouches have gone from disruptor to market leader in less than a decade.
