The Nicotine Pouch Report 2024
National Statistics on Nicotine Pouch Use
The Nicotine Pouch Report 2024 is produced by Haypp in collaboration with The Northerner. The aim is to create the UK’s best evidence base on nicotine consumption and nicotine pouch use. The report is aimed at consumers and interested members of the public, but also at authorities, decision-makers, and opinion formers, intending to safeguard a fact-based public dialogue on tobacco and nicotine and enable everyone to follow developments over time.
The report is based on purchase statistics from Haypp.co.uk and Northerner.com – and the thousands of actual decisions nicotine pouch users make daily. The purchase statistics for the full year 2023 come from 30,000 customers. Insights from a consumer survey have complemented this rich evidence base. The consumer survey was conducted in March to April 2024 and is based on responses from a random sample of customers, totalling 1325 individuals.
Most Popular Brands, Products and Flavours
How Popular Are Nicotine Pouches in the UK?
The average consumer of nicotine pouches uses three cans per week. The highest proportion of “high-frequency users” – those who use five or more cans per week – is found among men aged between 25 and 34 years. In Northern Ireland, the highest average usage is found at 3.5 cans, while the lowest average is in the North East at 2.7 cans. Northern Ireland also has the largest proportion of “high-frequency users” – one in three users (32 percent) reports using five or more cans per week.
Online, the average purchase is 13 cans per order, which lasts about a month. For many consumers, this monthly purchasing pattern creates predictability and awareness of costs, which can be particularly important during an economic downturn.
Why Do People Start Using Nicotine Pouches?
The most common reason for starting to use nicotine pouches is the user’s ambition to quit smoking. Nearly six out of ten users of nicotine pouches (56 percent) cite quitting smoking as the explicit reason for starting to use nicotine pouches. This proportion is highest among men, 58 percent, compared to 49 percent for women.
Nearly eight out of ten users (78 percent) cite price, and just over seven out of ten (72 percent) cite taste as one of the three most important factors when choosing a product. The importance of price for the purchase has increased slightly (from 70 to 78 percent) over the past year, while taste has decreased in importance (from 77 to 72 percent). There has also been a shift (from 69 to 75 percent) indicating that nicotine strength has become somewhat more important.
Opposition to Flavour Bans Has Many Faces
Almost two out of three opponents of the ban (65%) cite the taste of nicotine as a reason for opposing the ban. Almost as many - 59% - argue that a flavour ban would lead to greater consumption of products that are worse for health. About half (48%) believe that the state should not interfere in what individuals consume. A fear of the emergence of a black market, dependent on rogue traders and smuggling, also emerges as an argument among almost half of respondents (45 per cent).
