The One Place Where Pouches Skew Female

Sweden is a global outlier: among young adults, nicotine pouch use runs higher in women than in men. In the 16–29 bracket, 18% of women vs 12% of men reported using nikotinsnus (white snus/pouches) in 2022, per national surveys reported by Svenska Dagbladet. SvD.se

Why Sweden—and why women? Two forces cross: (1) Swedish men already have a long-standing habit base in traditional (brown) snus, so they’re “counted” heavily in another format; (2) pouches strip away smoke, smell, and stain, slashing the beauty/scent penalties that historically kept many women out of combustible nicotine. The net result is a female-skew in the clean format even as overall oral nicotine (snus + pouches) remains male-heavy.

Is Sweden the only country like this? As far as credible national stats show today, yes; most other markets still see male-dominant oral nicotine. But Sweden’s trajectory is a preview: once the fire, plume, and odor are engineered out—and a familiar, consistent “feel” is engineered in—friction drops for groups that previously opted out.