There are now as many people who use snus daily in Norway and Sweden, but among the younger part of the population there are more people who use snus in Norway, according to Statistics Norway.
Just updated
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Young Norwegian women use snus far more than their Swedish counterpart, while older Swedish men use more snus than Norwegians of the same age, figures from Statistics Norway (SSB).
– Since 2008, there has been a much stronger growth in the proportion who sniff daily in Norway than there has been in Sweden. Now we are at the same level as our neighboring country, says chief consultant Sindre Mikael Haugen in Statistics Norway.
More young people in Norway sniff
In Norway, it is more common among those under 45 to use snus daily compared with the same age group in Sweden. In the age group 25–34 years, one in four sniffs daily in Norway, against one in six Swedes.
On the other hand, there are more people in Sweden who sniff daily in the age groups 45–54 years and 55–64 years. This applies to one in six Swedes, against one in ten in Norway.
In Norway, the younger ones use snus the most, and in recent years more and more young people have started using snus. Among those between the ages of 16 and 24, one in five Norwegians sniffs daily, against one in six Swedes.
– If this development continues, in the slightly longer term there will be a larger proportion of Norwegians than Swedes who use snus, says Haugen.
Young Norwegian women stand out
Norway differs most from Sweden when it comes to snus use among younger women under 35 years of age. In the age group 25–34 years, there are more than twice as many women who use snus daily in Norway (17 per cent) compared with Sweden (7 per cent).
There are also more young men in Norway (under the age of 35) who use snus daily compared with the same age groups of men in Sweden, but here the difference is not as great as for women.
On the other hand, it is much more common among older Swedish men (45 years and older) to use snus daily compared with Norwegian men.
– This may be due to the fact that snus in Norway is still a relatively new phenomenon and most widespread among younger age groups, while the use of snus in Sweden has a longer history, says Haugen.
Think the smoking law contributes to more sniffing
The Norwegian Smoking Act from 2004 is believed to have contributed to the increase in the use of snus. Sweden introduced a similar law in 2005, but the difference is that before the smoking laws, more people in Norway than in Sweden smoked.
– It may be that snus to a greater extent became a substitute for smoking in Norway than in Sweden after the introduction of the smoking laws, says Haugen.
Statistics Norway presents the statistics on the occasion of World Tobacco-Free Day on 31 May.
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