The Swedish Experience

The term “the Swedish experience” refers to the idea that encouraging smokers to switch from cigarettes to snus is an effective tobacco harm reduction approach.

Background

The ‘big 4’ transnational tobacco companies (TTCs) have all invested in tobacco snus and more recently nicotine pouches – which do not contain tobacco leaf and are sometimes called ‘white snus’.

Since 2008, tobacco companies have been lobbying to have the EU ban on snus sales removed, arguing that the lives of EU smokers can be saved if they are given access to less harmful tobacco alternatives.¹

• Read more about how the tobacco industry uses the concept of harm reduction to further its business goals.

The Swedish Data and the Public Health Debate

Swedish men have long had one of the lowest daily smoking rates in Europe,²³ and one of the lowest rates of tobacco-related disease globally.⁴

In the earlier 2000s some researchers attributed the high male snus consumption for the reductions in Swedish male smoking, proposing that this proof of concept could be replicated elsewhere in the EU and achieve net health gains.⁵⁶⁷ This is the basis for the “Swedish experience” narrative widely promoted by the tobacco industry and its associates.

Others criticized this interpretation of the Swedish data, countering that strong Swedish tobacco control measures instead played a significant role in reducing male smoking prevalence (for example, Sweden was one of the first countries to introduce smoke-free spaces).⁸⁹¹⁰¹¹ They argued that Swedish data demonstrated that only a small proportion of Swedish male smokers quit smoking using snus, that a number of snus users started their tobacco use with snus, and that some continued to smoke and are dual users.⁸¹⁰

While smoking rates in Sweden have decreased steadily over time, snus use has remained generally stable.³¹¹¹² According to Cancer Fonden (the Swedish Cancer Society) there is “no statistical support” to the claim that the decline in smoking in Sweden is due to the use of snus.¹¹

In addition, use of nicotine pouches (also known as ‘white snus’) has increased, particularly among young people.^31113141516

The “Swedish Experience” and the Tobacco Industry

British American Tobacco (BAT) and Japan Tobacco International (JTI) both refer to snus as “traditional oral products” and nicotine pouches as “modern oral products”.¹⁷¹⁸ Imperial Brands refers to both snus and nicotine pouches as “oral nicotine”, and nicotine pouches as “modern oral nicotine”.¹⁹ Philip Morris International (PMI, now owner of Swedish Match) refers to snus and nicotine pouches as “oral smokeless products”.²⁰

They also use various terms relating to harm and risk.²¹

• For more details see Tobacco Industry Product Terminology.

The TTCs promote the Swedish experience on their main websites, dedicated science sites, and in other corporate material such as press releases and annual reports.

BAT

BAT states that “the Swedish experience with snus is a case study of Tobacco Harm Reduction”, and that it provides epidemiological data that BAT believes is transferable to their “increasingly popular oral products”.²²

BAT’s 2024 Capital Markets Day presentation heavily featured the Swedish experience, including the claim by Delon Human (see Third Parties below) that replicating Swedish tobacco-related mortality rates could save over 3.5 million lives in the EU within a decade.²³

BAT has identified low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) as key growth markets for nicotine pouches.²⁴ Several people claiming to be public health experts, but linked to BAT,  have been involved in promoting this narrative in LMICs, including in the African region:

• BAT West & Central Africa’s scientific engagement manager, for new category products has promoted the company’ shift to “alternative products”²⁵, pointing to the Swedish model as a roadmap for governments.²⁶
• In Kenya, BAT has urged the government to follow the Swedish model and adopt a harm reduction approach, rather than introduce marketing restrictions or raise taxes.²⁷

PMI

In 2022, PMI acquired Swedish Match which manufactures snus and other oral nicotine products.²⁸ The Swedish Match corporate website has a section dedicated to the Swedish experience.²⁹

PMI also advocates for the inclusion of its smoke-free alternative products (including snus) in tobacco control strategies, using Sweden as a case study.³⁰

PMI’s UK subsidiary Philip Morris Ltd submitted written evidence to the UK parliamentary committee in 2024, which used the Swedish experience as an example of a harm reduction approach, in order to advocate for heated tobacco products.³¹

JTI

Written evidence submitted by JTI to the UK parliament in 2017 emphasised the Swedish experience. It used similar arguments in 2025 when lobbying against the UK Tobacco and Vapes bill.³²³³

JTI uses the Swedish experience to market nicotine pouches on social media, as well as at music festivals in the UK. These adverts are typically targeted towards young people and non-smokers.³⁴

Third Parties

Other organisations linked to tobacco companies have also promoted this narrative, including several  linked to Health Diplomats, run by Delon Human:

• In 2023, Health Diplomats launched a ‘Smoke Free Sweden’ campaign, encouraging other countries to follow the Swedish model and adopt a  “roadmap to a smoke free society”.³⁵
• The Africa Harm Reduction Alliance (AHRA) was co-founded by Delon Human, and advocates for African countries to consider the ‘Swedish approach’ to tobacco control.^{3637 3839} See Health Diplomats for more details.
• A ‘Quit like Sweden’ campaign was launched in Brazil 2024.⁴⁰⁴¹⁴²

We Vape has also used the Swedish experience in a submission to the UK parliament, and advocated for the legalization of snus.⁴³ See We Vape for details.

Promoted by Business Sweden

Business Sweden – the Swedish Trade and Invest Council – is jointly owned by the Swedish government and the private business sector. One of its stated goals is to help Swedish companies grow global sales.⁴⁴ Its members include Swedish Match, which was acquired by PMI in 2023.⁴⁵ Business Sweden’s entry on the EU Transparency Register entry states that it “acts as a non-lobbying actor” and “monitors and engages with EU legislative proposals and initiatives that are relevant to strengthening Sweden’s competitiveness, sustainability, and industrial leadership.”⁴⁶

On 26 March 2024, Business Sweden organised an event in Den Hague, Netherlands and invited Dutch parliamentarians.⁴⁷⁴⁸ Titled “Navigating Nicotine Regulation: Insights from Sweden” the invitation stated that the purpose of the meeting was “to emphasise the need to properly regulate new nicotine products in the Netherlands and exchange experiences in how countries like Sweden have successfully balanced public health and strict regulation.”⁴⁷ The invitation was signed by the Swedish Trade Commissioner.⁴⁷ Two Swedish MPs were listed as speakers – one a member of the Swedish government Committee of Health and Welfare, the other chair of the Committee on Industry and Trade.⁴⁷

Other listed speakers were Martin Cullip, a fellow at the Taxpayers Protection Alliance,  and Dr. Karl Fagerström, a member of the industry-funded Snus Commission, who has received consulting fees from Swedish Match and other tobacco companies.⁴⁷⁴⁸⁴⁹ (See The International Association on Smoking Control and Harm Reduction – SCOHRE for further details.) This information did not appear on the invitation.⁴⁷

In response to questions in the Dutch parliament,⁵⁰ the State Secretary for Health, Welfare and Sport reported that the Swedish embassy had stated that the responsibility for this event lay with Business Sweden.⁵¹

On its website Business Sweden states that it is “Aligned with global frameworks from the UN and OECD”.⁴⁴⁵² Advocates in the Netherlands questioned whether Business Sweden’s promotion of tobacco industry products was compatible with children’s right to health and a sustainable future.⁴⁹

Relevant Links

• Falkhalsomyndigheten/Public Health Agency of Sweden, Use of tobacco and nicotine products, website
• Cancer Fonden (Swedish Cancer Society), Swedish Tobacco Policy: Key learnings to decrease smoking and challenges that lie ahead, November 2023

Tobacco Tactics Resources

• Snus
• Snus: EU Ban on Snus Sales
• Cigarette Companies Investing in Snus
• Nicotine Pouches
• EU Tobacco Products Directive Revision
• Newer Nicotine and Tobacco Products

TCRG Research

Tobacco industry messaging around harm: Narrative framing in PMI and BAT press releases and annual reports 2011 to 2021, I. Fitzpatrick, S. Dance, K. Silver, M. Violini, T. Hird, Front. Public Health, 10:958354, doi:10.3389/fpubh.2022.958354

Transnational Tobacco Company Interests in Smokeless Tobacco in Europe: Analysis of Internal Industry Documents and Contemporary Industry Materials, S. Peeters, A. Gilmore, PLoS Med 2013; 10(9): e1001506, accessed April 2015