Decline in tobacco and nicotine consumption in Finland

Although snus is banned in Finland, as it is in the rest of the European Union except Sweden, Finnish teenagers, who smoke little, manage to get their hands on it.

A small pouch of tobacco placed between the lip and gum, snus is only legal in the European Union in Sweden, its country of origin. However, the shared border between Sweden and Finland, and the fact that Finns are allowed to import 1,000 grams of snus upon their return, have encouraged the illicit spread of snus in Finland.

The latest results of the study on health promotion in schools indicate that 43% of high school students have used a tobacco product at least once a year, this proportion rising to 67% for students in vocational education. Snus is increasingly present among the tobacco products experimented with or consumed, and a third of adolescents obtain it via social networks, as well as through their network of friends.[1]The Institute of Health and Solidarity (THL) calls on parents to be vigilant regarding their children's use of websites and social networks, where the purchase of tobacco products is facilitated.

Tobacco products are under-consumed and in decline

Smoking prevalence has fallen significantly in Finland in recent years, from 24% in 2000 to 14% in 2018. Among 14-16 year olds, this prevalence was 5% in 2018, but with significant disparities: while only 3% of high school students were smokers in 2019, this rate climbed to 19% for students in vocational education.[2].

Daily snus consumption, which ranges from 1 to 3% among adults, was 5% among school-aged adolescents and 15% among vocational school students in 2019. This snus consumption increased sharply between 2008 and 2015 for all school-aged children, and has since only increased among vocational school students. Previously mainly present among boys, snus use has increased significantly among girls since 2017.

Daily use of e-cigarettes only affected 2% of adults in 2018 and has significantly declined among young people in school, from 6% in 2015 to just over 2% in 2019.

A deterioration in the image of tobacco products

This disinterest in tobacco has been accompanied by a change in perception of the product, which, according to a 2017 study by the Finnish Youth Research Society and the Finnish Cancer Society, seems silly rather than "cool."

In another, more recent study on adolescents' perceptions of different tobacco products, snus, cigarettes, and nicotine itself were perceived as toxic, while e-cigarettes and water pipes benefited from a largely erroneous image of being less harmful.[3]The authors believe that this degraded perception of tobacco products is based on a consistent discourse from adults and scientists, relayed by traditional media, while e-cigarettes and water pipes are mainly discussed on social networks, where information is less controlled and more open to misinterpretation. Adolescents who have experimented with some of these tobacco or nicotine products and whose parents are consumers, however, have less negative perceptions.

Progress made in the 2000s has made Finland a model for tobacco control in Europe[4]The changing perceptions of tobacco and nicotine products among young Finns can therefore be interpreted as a kind of life-size laboratory of what a generation without tobacco would be like.

Keywords: Finland, snus, tobacco, youth, social networks

©Generation Without Tobacco

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[1] One in three teens buys snus on social media, study finds, yle News, published April 8, 2022, accessed April 12, 2022.

[2] Tobacco, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, published October 12, 2020, accessed April 12, 2022.

[3] El-Amin S., Kinnunen JM, Rimpelä A, Adolescents' Perceptions of Harmfulness of Tobacco and Tobacco-like Products in Finland, Int. J. Approx. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(3), 1485.

[4] Fight against tobacco intensifies in Finland, Tobacco-Free Generation, published April 28, 2021, accessed April 12, 2022.

National Committee Against Smoking |