{"id":31279,"date":"2025-11-20T11:53:30","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T11:53:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/?p=31279"},"modified":"2025-11-20T11:53:35","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T11:53:35","slug":"smoking-hits-record-lows-in-the-u-s-and-nordics-as-vapes-and-nicotine-pouches-take-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/post\/smoking-hits-record-lows-in-the-u-s-and-nordics-as-vapes-and-nicotine-pouches-take-over\/","title":{"rendered":"Smoking hits record lows in the U.S. and Nordics as vapes and nicotine pouches take over"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Smoking is reaching historic lows across Finland, Iceland, and the United States, with new data showing rapid declines driven by the rise of alternative nicotine products such as vapes and nicotine pouches.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across all three countries, traditional smoking is being displaced by safer, smokeless products, particularly among young people. It marks a significant shift in how nicotine is consumed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finland: Fewer smokers, more alternatives<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In Finland<\/a>, the latest data shows that \u201c10 per cent of Finns aged 20 to 64 smoked daily in 2024,\u201d a continued decline from previous decades. Daily smoking in schools is now rare: only \u201cthree per cent of boys smoked daily in middle schools\u201d and \u201cone per cent in high schools.\u201d The pattern is similar among girls, with daily smoking at just \u201cone per cent in middle schools and high schools.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even among adults, consumption is low compared to past levels, despite the fact that Finland still consumed \u201c486 cigarettes per person aged 15 or over\u201d in 2023. Among university students, daily smoking dropped to \u201cfour per cent\u201d in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicotine pouches and vapes are filling the gap. In 2024, \u201ceight per cent of men and two per cent of women aged 20 to 64 used nicotine pouches daily,\u201d with daily use peaking in vocational schools where \u201c24 per cent of boys\u201d and \u201c15 per cent of girls\u201d reported daily pouch use in 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vaping remains low among adults, but daily use among young people is rising, reaching \u201cfive per cent in middle schools\u201d and \u201cfive per cent in vocational schools\u201d for boys, and \u201csix per cent in middle schools\u201d and \u201cnine per cent in vocational schools\u201d for girls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US: cigarettes down, vaping up<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The U.S.<\/a> mirrors this shift. According to newly released 2022 to 2023 data from the Tobacco Use Supplement, 8.9 per cent of adults currently smoke – down from 11.4 per cent just a few years ago – and \u201cthe most commonly used tobacco product was e-cigarettes (7.9 per cent)\u201d among adults aged 18 to 24. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicotine pouches, barely visible in national surveys a decade ago, are now being explicitly tracked. The latest data includes \u201ccurrent use and ever use of nicotine pouches\u201d alongside cigarettes, vaping, and other products, reflecting changing patterns in tobacco control. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iceland: smoke-free status within reach<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Iceland<\/a> is pushing further still. Latest figures show that \u201c5.6 per cent of Icelandic adults aged 18 to 69 smoke every day,\u201d putting the country on the brink of being defined as smoke-free. This status is achieved when daily smoking falls below five per cent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicotine pouches have transformed the Icelandic nicotine landscape. \u201cNicotine pouches are now the most popular nicotine products in Iceland, with more than twice as many people using them compared to cigarettes.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daily pouch use reached almost 12 per cent in 2024, while vaping also continued to grow, rising from 2.8 per cent in 2016 to \u201cfive per cent in 2024.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why smoking rates are falling<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Across Finland, Iceland, and the US, nicotine consumption is shifting from smoking to smokeless products, especially among young adults. Cigarette use is falling faster than ever, in part because alternatives are increasingly available, regulated, and socially acceptable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Iceland\u2019s experience shows, \u201cwhen safer nicotine products are available, accessible, affordable, appropriate and acceptable\u201d smoking rates can fall to some of the lowest in the world.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Smoking is reaching historic lows across Finland, Iceland, and the United States, with new data showing rapid declines driven by the rise of alternative nicotine products such as vapes and nicotine pouches.\u00a0 Across all three countries, traditional smoking is being displaced by…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":990005,"featured_media":31280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[257],"tags":[186,339],"slider":[],"class_list":["post-31279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-nicotine","tag-united-states"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/990005"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31279"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31287,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31279\/revisions\/31287"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31279"},{"taxonomy":"slider","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/slider?post=31279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}