Tobacco and nicotine products

Daily smoking has been declining for a long time

Daily smoking in Finland has decreased significantly over the past few decades. Daily smoking among working-age people (20–64-year-olds) has declined notably since the late 1990s, and in 2024, around one in ten working-age people smoked daily.

Gender differences in smoking have narrowed, but smoking is still slightly more common among men than among women.

Today, daily smoking is rare among young people. In the past few years, the decline has continued especially among adolescents in vocational education and training, where smoking has been significantly more common.

“Stronger support for quitting the use of tobacco and nicotine products must be provided in social and health services. In addition to cigarettes, it is imperative to also take into account the use of other tobacco and nicotine products,” says Hanna Ollila, Senior Specialist at THL.

The use of tobacco and nicotine products has increased among men

Daily use of at least one tobacco or nicotine product has increased among working-age men (Figure 1). In 2024, 23 per cent of men used at least one tobacco or nicotine product daily, compared with 20 per cent in 2022. The percentages include smoking cigarettes and the use of snus, e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches and heated tobacco products.

Twelve per cent of working-age women used tobacco and nicotine products daily in both 2024 and 2022.

Share of men and women aged 20–64 who use tobacco or nicotine products daily
Year 2022 2024
Men 20,2 22,9
Women 11,7 11,5

Daily use of nicotine pouches has rapidly increased

Daily use of nicotine pouches has increased rapidly in Finland, especially among vocational students and young adult men. In 2025, approximately one in four of the boys and approximately one in six girls in vocational education and training used nicotine pouches daily. In 2024, approximately one in eight men aged 20–39 years used nicotine pouches daily.

“Increased use of nicotine pouches among young people and adults poses a challenge to public health and to the achievement of the objective of the Tobacco Act. The age limit for the use of tobacco and nicotine products should be increased to 20 years, and all flavours should be banned to prevent and reduce their use,” emphasises Otto Ruokolainen, Senior Specialist at THL.

The increase in the use of nicotine pouches explains the increase in the daily use of tobacco and nicotine products among young people

Ten per cent of boys and seven per cent of girls studying in general upper secondary education used at least one tobacco or nicotine product in 2025. Compared to 2023, the use increased among both boys and girls.

In 2025, 29 per cent of boys and 25 per cent of girls in vocational education and training used at least one tobacco or nicotine product daily. The proportion among boys remained the same compared to 2023 and increased slightly among girls.

Daily use of tobacco and nicotine products by students in grades 8 and 9 of comprehensive school has decreased among both boys and girls in the past few years. In 2025, the proportion of boys in grades 8 and 9 using at least one tobacco or nicotine product daily was 11 per cent while the respective proportion for girls was eight per cent. In 2023, the corresponding proportions were 12 and nine per cent.

Use of tobacco and nicotine products among girls and boys by level of education
Year Comprehensive school boys Comprehensive school girls Upper secondary school boys Upper secondary school girls Vocational school boys Vocational school girls
2017 14 7 11 4 37 28
2019 12 6 9 4 33 25
2021 10 5 6 4 29 23
2023 12 9 7 6 28 24
2025 11 8 10 7 29 25

In 2025, nicotine pouches became the most commonly used daily product among all young people, except for girls in grades 8 and 9 of comprehensive school, among whom e-cigarettes remained the most commonly used products.

Daily use of e-cigarettes increased among girls in vocational education and training and daily use of snus decreased among boys

Daily use of e-cigarettes has remained low among adults but has become more common among young people.

In 2025, daily use of e-cigarettes continued to increase only among girls studying in vocational education and training. Daily use of e-cigarettes among boys in grades 8 and 9 of comprehensive school declined.

The use of snus increased in the 2010s but has been decreasing, especially in the past few years.

Daily use of snus continued to decrease among boys in all educational groups between 2023 and 2025. Among girls in grades 8 and 9 of comprehensive school and girls in general upper secondary education, the use of snus continued to be infrequent. The use of snus decreased among girls in vocational education and training between 2023 and 2025.

Passenger imports of cigarettes increased and passenger imports of snus declined in 2024

In 2024, Finnish passengers imported approximately 363 million cigarettes to Finland, an increase of 3.5 per cent from the previous year. A total of 8.5 million boxes of snus were imported while the corresponding number in 2023 was 13.0 million boxes, and 3.8 million boxes of nicotine pouches were imported while the number in 2023 was 1.6 million boxes.

The imports of cigarettes have been monitored since 2006. Passenger imports have declined during the period. At their highest, passenger imports amounted to over 800 million cigarettes in 2008.

The passenger imports of snus were first asked about in 2009. During the period, passenger imports of snus have been increasing, and the volume of the imports was at its highest, approximately 17.5 million boxes, in 2018.

A gap in statistics on passenger imports

The method of collecting data on passenger imports of tobacco and nicotine products changed from the beginning of 2025. Previous monitoring based on telephone interviews has been replaced with an internet panel, which produces estimates that are not comparable with the statistics from previous years.

The estimates of passenger imports for the period 2025–2027 will be published as separate THL working papers. The internet panel seems to produce estimates higher than the actual level. Thus, the results must be interpreted with caution.

Key reporting services 

Update schedule

Tobacco statistics are published in odd years.

The more exact publication time can be found in the publication calendar.

Statistics publication calendar
 

Contact information

Otto Ruokolainen

Senior Specialist
tel. +358 29 524 6241
[email protected]

Hanna Ollila

Senior Specialist
tel. +358 29 524 8617
[email protected]
Hanna Ollila (LinkedIn)