Users of e-cigarettes and tobacco heaters are increasingly using Snus and Nicotine Pouches

More and more users of e-cigarettes and tobacco heaters in Germany are using Snus and Nicotine Pouches. This is shown by the representative survey "Barrieren des Rauchstopps" by Philip Morris. Here you can read why smokers of tobacco cigarettes are less open to oral nicotine products and what the tobacco company would like to see in Germany.

Smoking rate in Germany

Although it appears to be falling again since the summer of 2022, the smoking rate in Germany will remain stubbornly high in 2024. The latest figures published by the University of Düsseldorf (DEBRA study) show that the smoking rate in Germany is still very high at 28,2% as of 07/2024.*1

Although there are attempts to quit smoking in Germany, these are rather sparse at just 9 percentage points (as at 07/2024). Since the end of 2016 (as of 11/2016: 33.9%), there even seems to be a blatant downturn in this regard.*1

One could now ask what mostely prevents Germans from stop smoking and what individual barriers are at work here. Conversely, what motivates those who at least try?

The annual representative survey "Barrieren des Rauchstopps" commissioned by Philip Morris GmbH (PMG) has been trying to find out precisely this since 2021. What the majority of the 1,000 smokers surveyed say is probably in line with what you may know all too well from your immediate environment.

"I like smoking" - lack of motivation fuels cigarette consumption

Motivation is probably the key point - because without it, the plan "Quitting smoking" not only fails, it is usually not even tackled in the first place. If you like smoking, you lack at least one important incentive to take the first step towards a smoke-free future.

The survey conducted by PMG makes it clear: "I like smoking" is considered to be one of, if not the barrier to successfully quitting smoking. At least 51.6% of respondents agree that this is the biggest barrier. And more than half (55%) of all smokers are not motivated to quit.*2

Users of e-cigarettes and tobacco heaters: one in five consume oral nicotine products

The PMG survey also investigated how both cigarette smokers and users of e-cigarettes and tobacco heaters feel about the use of oral nicotine products. The results from 2023 compared with those from 2022 show a noticeable upward trend in the group of e-cigarette users. As Figure 1 shows, one in five (22.5%) of them now state that they have used oral nicotine products such as snus or nicotine pouches in the past seven days. Compared to 3.6% in the previous year, this indicates a rapid development.

Among smokers of traditional tobacco cigarettes, on the other hand, only 1.2% state that they have used such products in the last seven days. Compared to 2022, when the figure was still 1.5%, this represents a slight decline.

Figure 1 - Umfragen Barrieren des Rauchstopps: Orale Nikotinprodukte bei erwachsenen Nutzerinnen und Nutzern von E-Zigarette und Tabakerhitzer auf dem Vormarsch © Philip Morris GmbH

Knowledge gap among smokers

The PMG survey also provides an answer to the question of how the difference in the use of oral nicotine products between smokers and e-cigarette users or those who use tobacco heaters can be explained. Both groups appear to differ significantly in their knowledge of the harmful substances in cigarette smoke. According to the survey, only 17.8% of smokers associate tobacco combustion products with smoking-related illnesses. For the other group, however, the proportion is 40.5%.*2

According to an assessment by the Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung in 2022, oral nicotine products could also be claimed to have a lower pollutant potential compared to cigarettes.*3

And what seems to be emerging here, namely that a lack of knowledge about the risk-reduced use of such cigarette alternatives can create certain barriers to smoking cessation - conversely, knowledge about risk-reduced options can create incentives - would at least be in line with a report launched by the Nicotine Institute Vienna this year. According to this, such alternative nicotine products could help people to quit cigarettes - in the first step, to reduce the amount consumed and then to give up smoking altogether. Encouraging people to give up cigarettes more easily, especially by raising awareness, could therefore be the key to success.

>> Read more about this in: Nicotine pouches as a cigarette alternative - education could promote smoking cessation

Philip Morris calls for regulation of oral nicotine products in Germany

PMG is now firmly in favor of uniform regulation of oral nicotine products in Germany, in particular nicotine pouches. At present, the consumption of these products is not prohibited, but there are inconsistent rules across the country that temporarily ban local trade in them in at least some districts. This does not affect purchases from abroad via online retailers.

The results of the survey conducted would now indicate that, despite the lack of uniform national regulations, oral tobacco and nicotine products are available and are also consumed - especially by users of e-cigarettes and tobacco heaters.

Dr. Christoph Neubert, Manager Scientific & Medical Affairs and head of the study project at Philip Morris GmbH, comments:

"Wir werden bei der nächsten Befragungswelle unserer Studie 'Barrieren des Rauchstopps' einen verstärkten Fokus auf das Nutzungsverhalten rund um Nikotinbeutel legen. Konkret interessiert uns: Was sind die genauen Gründe für die Nutzung? Welche Rolle spielt das geringere Schadenspotenzial oraler Produkte? Eines zeigt die Studie bereits jetzt: Snus und tabakfreie Nikotinbeutel sind im deutschen Markt angekommen und werden genutzt. Um den Jugendschutz, aber auch für die erwachsenen Raucher verbraucherschutzrechtliche Produktstandards wie z.B. Nikotinobergrenzen oder Hinweispflichten auch für diese Produktgruppe zu gewährleisten, muss es nun zeitnah eine entsprechende Regulierung geben."

>> You can read how an EU-wide regulation could help here in: Tobacco Directive in the new EU Commission: The future for Snus and nicotine pouches

*1 Cf.: https://www.debra-study.info/
*2 Cf.: https://www.gesundheit-adhoc.de/neue-studie-barrieren-des-rauchstopps-2023-zeigt-motivation-fuer-den-rauchstopp-sinkt-grosse-wissensluecken-unter-raucherinnen/
*3 Cf: Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung, 2022. Health Risk Assessment of Nicotine Pouches: Updated BfR Opinion No. 023/2022 of 7 October 2022, BfR-Stellungnahmen. Bundesinst. für Risikobewertung. https://doi.org/10.17590/20220204-105615