Germany’s oral nicotine market operates in a regulatory gap as smoking rate remains near 33%

Unregulated products meet established demand

Germany is facing renewed debate over how to regulate oral nicotine products as smoking remains widespread and nicotine pouches continue to reach consumers without regular market authorization. The DEBRA study put the share of the population that smoked at around 33% in August 2026. According to a press release from Philip Morris GmbH published by Gesundheit Adhoc, the data show no sustained decline in smoking prevalence since DEBRA surveys began in 2016.

Oral nicotine products include tobacco-containing snus and tobacco-free nicotine pouches. Snus sales are prohibited across the European Union except in Sweden. Tobacco-free pouches are regulated and legally available in some European countries, but neither category is currently considered regularly marketable in Germany. That has not eliminated demand. The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment reported that about 2% of Germany’s population used nicotine pouches in 2022, while another 14% had tried them.

A nationwide retail analysis conducted by Ipsos for Philip Morris International in 2025 found nicotine pouches on sale at 15.8% of the outlets examined. One-third of the products subjected to forensic analysis were counterfeit. The findings indicate that part of the market is being supplied through unregulated or illegal channels, leaving buyers without the quality and safety controls that would accompany a formal product regime.

Survey finds wide differences in risk perception

Philip Morris GmbH’s annual “Barriers to Smoking Cessation” study surveyed 1,000 adult daily smokers aged 19 or older who did not use e-cigarettes or heated tobacco products. A supplementary sample covered 201 adult users of e-cigarettes or heated tobacco products. The company-funded study examined cessation motivation, consumption patterns, use of cessation aids and perceptions of the relative health risks of nicotine products.

Only 20% of the smokers surveyed considered oral nicotine products less harmful than cigarettes. The proportion rose to 42% among users of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products. The study also recorded several reasons for using oral products: 38% cited an expectation of lower health risks, 31% discreet use where other nicotine products were unwanted, 31% protection of non-smokers, 28% avoidance of a return to cigarettes and 24% a desire eventually to stop smoking cigarettes.

These results come from research commissioned by a tobacco company and should be viewed in that context. Philip Morris argues that a risk-based legal framework would improve product safety, youth protection and consumer information. The company also stresses that smoke-free nicotine products are not cessation therapies, are not risk-free and generally contain addictive nicotine. Complete cessation remains the best way to reduce smoking-related health risks.

Sweden provides a comparison, not a direct template

Swedish public-health data cited in the release show that daily smoking prevalence in Sweden fell from 15% in 2008 to 5.6% in 2024. Oral nicotine products have long been available there, unlike in Germany. The comparison has become central to the industry’s argument for differentiated regulation, although the reported figures alone do not establish that product availability caused the decline.

For manufacturers and retailers, a German framework could replace legal uncertainty with rules on market access, composition, labeling and distribution. For regulators, the challenge is to address an existing market without presenting addictive products as harmless or encouraging nicotine initiation. The immediate commercial reality is that prohibition has not prevented sales: products are already present in stores, counterfeit goods have entered the supply chain, and consumers receive uneven information about relative risks. With smoking still affecting roughly one-third of the population, the regulatory debate is likely to focus on whether controlled access offers stronger safeguards than the current grey market.