Sweden has achieved its goal of becoming a tobacco-free country in 2025, with less than 5% of the population smoking cigarettes daily, but a quarter of the population still consuming nicotine daily, according to a report published Monday.
The number of daily smokers in Sweden has increased from 16% to 4.8% between 2003 and 2025, according to the report published by the Swedish Information Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs (CAN). Several countries such as Ireland or New Zealand have set themselves an objective of less than 5% of smokers in order to call themselves tobacco-free countries, an objective echoed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in its publications.
A report by the Swedish Public Health Agency, dating from 2024, estimates this figure at 5.4%. The next survey was to be conducted in 2026. According to the CAN report, women aged 50 to 84 constituted the most important group of daily cigarette smokers, with 6%. Sweden’s success in reducing smoking is largely attributed to its widespread use snusor tobacco for oral use, which is placed under the upper lip, either in sachets or in bulk.
It can be manufactured with or without tobacco. In this last case, we talk about “snus blanc”, often flavored with sweet flavors that appeal to young consumers. Le snus avec tabac is prohibited in the European Union since 1992, but Sweden obtained a derogation when it joined the EU three years later.
In 2025, 24% of Swedes consume nicotine daily, in the form of cigarettes, snus or electronic cigarettes, according to the report, and around 19% consume a form of it daily snusagainst 12% in 2007. The strongest increase in consumption of snus was observed among women, rising from 4% in 2007 to 14% in 2025.
“While the effects of smoking on health are well known, we know much less about it snus and the new nicotinic products”, says the CAN report. “Studies have shown that electronic cigarettes can, among other things, increase the risk of certain pulmonary diseases. On en sait encore moins sur le snus blanc, but certain information indicates that the nicotine content could be higher in it snus blanc than in the corresponding tobacco products”, he added.
Nicotine is highly addictive, recalls the report. Le snus blanc was launched on the Swedish market in 2016. CAN reports a 180% increase in sales of snus blanc between 2021 and 2024, while sales of liquids for vaping exploded by 640% during the same period.
Source: Lequotidien
