Local differences for smokeless products
North America
In the US, the dominant form of smokeless tobacco is fermented moist snuff. Moist snuff has its origins from products brought over by Scandinavian immigrants. Moist snuff has traditionally been consumed in a loose format, although consumption of moist snuff in pouch format has increased rapidly in recent years. Snus, which is pasteurized and not fermented, is a small and relatively recent product category. Nicotine pouches without tobacco is a small but rapidly growing segment. Traditional US chewing tobacco consumption is in a long term state of decline but this category nevertheless remains a significant part of the US smokeless tobacco market. Smokeless tobacco is also available on the Canadian market.
Europe
In Scandinavia, smokeless tobacco consumption has a long tradition, with snus being the dominant form. Today, there are more snus users than cigarette users in Sweden. In Norway, the transformation from a small traditional snus market to a market where the consumption of cigarettes has shifted to snus, especially among younger adults, has been pronounced. In both Sweden and Norway, snus has historically been used by men, while in recent years has become increasingly appealing among women. In Denmark and Finland, there are also historical ties to snus. Chewing products, which includes chew bags, is a small but growing segment in certain European markets.
In European markets outside Scandinavia, smokeless tobacco traditionally has been consumed as a chewing tobacco product or as nasal snuff. Although scientifically recognized as a safer alternative to cigarettes, tobacco products for oral use (such as snus) are banned within the EU while cigarettes, chewing tobacco, nasal snuff and certain other smokeless tobacco products are allowed to be sold. In certain European countries, most particularly in central Europe and in the alpine regions, smokeless products enjoy greater use.
Asia and Africa
Local variants of other oral and nasal smokeless tobacco products are consumed in relatively large volumes in certain countries. In Asia, local chewing products include products such as gutkha and zarda in India, and tobacco mixed with betel, in Indonesia for example. In North Africa, chemma is a widely used product. These types of products in Asia and Africa, often contain significantly higher levels of undesired compounds compared to snus.
