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February 13, 2026, Stockholm, Sweden:
A new study tracking oral nicotine purchases in Sweden and Norway suggests that a major transformation is underway.
The research, published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, is a comprehensive cross-sectional analysis of more than 19 million e-commerce orders from Norway and Sweden between 2018 and 2025. It shows that consumers are increasingly moving away from traditional tobacco-based snus in favor of tobacco leaf–free nicotine pouches. Once a niche product, these nicotine pouches now account for the largest share of online oral nicotine sales in both countries on Scandinavia’s leading alternative nicotine product e-commerce platforms.*
The research highlights how the availability and sales of nontobacco nicotine pouches have grown sharply in recent years. While traditional snus has long been the dominant oral nicotine product in the Swedish and Norwegian markets, nicotine pouches now represent the larger share of online orders—a clear signal of changing consumer preferences.
This trend is not specific to Norway and Sweden. Nicotine pouches are the fastest growing category in the nicotine market globally, with sales increasing from around 292 million units in 2018 to more than 20 billion by 2023, an increase of roughly 6700%. In the United Kingdom and the United States, year-on-year growth has regularly reached 30%-80%, far outpacing most other nicotine products. This looks set to continue. The global nicotine pouch market is projected to rise from US $10.1 billion in 2025 to US $59.5 billion by 2032.
Unlike snus, nicotine pouches contain no tobacco leaf, a distinction that may have helped fuel their rapid rise.
“Our consumers tell us that they choose pouches because they see them as lower risk alternatives to products like snus or cigarettes. They are consciously switching to what they believe to be the safest way to consume nicotine,” said study coauthor Dr Marina Murphy, Senior Director Scientific Affairs, Haypp Group.
Scandinavia has long been regarded by public health experts as a global test case for alternatives to smoking. Smoking rates in Sweden and Norway are among the lowest in Europe, while the use of oral nicotine products remains high. The growing dominance of nicotine pouches adds a new dimension to that story.
“Nicotine pouches are a relatively new product, yet they are already disrupting established oral nicotine markets such as Sweden and Norway. As pouches continue to grow in popularity, it is important that public health authorities closely monitor sales and usage patterns to fully understand the public health implications of this evolving category,” Dr Murphy added.
What’s clear from the data is this: the oral nicotine market in Scandinavia is changing fast. As nicotine pouches move into the mainstream, policymakers, health experts, and consumers alike are being forced to rethink what the future of nicotine looks like not only in Scandinavia but globally.
*Note: This cross-sectional study analyzed HAYPP Group AB (Stockholm, Sweden) sales data from January 1, 2018, to September 17, 2025, on 19,528,087 purchases of snus and nicotine products by 1,721,752 customers from seven e-commerce websites in two countries (Sweden: snusbolaget.se, haypp.se, nettotobak.se, snusnetto.se; Norway: snuslageret.no, snushjem.no, snus.com). In both countries, purchases are age-verified with government-issued identification numbers that encode each customer’s birth date and gender. This information is authenticated by payment service providers.
Original article:
Murphy MA, Henenberg D, Reese L. Cross-Sectional Study on Oral Nicotine Product Sales Trends in Scandinavia From 2018 to 2025. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2026;12:e85490. doi: 10.2196/85490
Notes to Editors
About Haypp Group
HAYPP Group AB is an e-commerce company that sells noncombustible nicotine products and is the sponsor of this research. The Group operates independently and is not under the ownership or control of any tobacco or nicotine manufacturers.
About Haypp Lab
Haypp Lab uses consumer data from over one million customers in seven international markets to generate unique insights into the behaviors of nicotine consumers and global trends in nicotine consumption.
Research Letter
Murphy MA, Henenberg D, Reese L. Cross-Sectional Study on Oral Nicotine Product Sales Trends in Scandinavia From 2018 to 2025. JMIR Public Health Surveill 2026;12:e85490
doi: 10.2196/85490 PMID: 41604316 PMCID: 12904098