People in the United Kingdom are using nicotine pouches in rapidly growing numbers—both to quit smoking, where these low-risk options have a strong track record, but also in some cases as an alternative to vapes.
A recent survey of over 2,000 British pouch users—from Haypp, an international e-commerce company specializing in safer nicotine products, and its subsidiary Northerner.com—explored how and why nicotine pouches were being used. The resulting Nicotine Pouch Report 2026 additionally looked at purchasing data for over 50,000 UK customers from December 2025 to January 2026.
“The UK nicotine pouch market is expanding rapidly,” it concluded, saying that demand for pouches on the company’s platforms grew by 60 percent in 2025.
Respondents viewed pouches as “healthier,” “more discreet” and “less intrusive to others.”
But why pouches, more than other options? According to the report, it’s a mixture of practicality and “perceived health benefits.” Survey respondents viewed pouches as “healthier” (64 percent), “more discreet” (also 64 percent) and “less intrusive to others” (52 percent), compared to other nicotine products.
That makes sense, when research has found pouches to be at the very lowest end of the nicotine-products continuum of risk, and clearly they don’t produce smoke or vapor that other people might object to.
The report found that 48 percent of pouch consumers used the products to quit smoking —unsurprisingly, given pouches’ success for smoking cessation in other countries. But perhaps more surprising is that 40 percent began using pouches in order to quit vapes, which have been the UK’s most successful smoking-cessation tools.
“This isn’t about pouches replacing vapes,” Marina Murphy, Haypp’s director of scientific affairs, told Filter. “Different tools work for different people, and both are doing important work getting people off cigarettes.”
But Murphy said pouches appeal to a particular kind of quitter: “someone who wants something private, with no vapor and nothing to change or refill.”
That resonates with Jessica Harding, a director of the Global Forum on Nicotine (GFN Ltd.). After 26 years of smoking and many attempts to stop, she was finally able to quit in 2011 when she was persuaded to try vaping, as she once described for Filter. Harding continued to vape for years—but now exclusively uses pouches.
The fact that they’re discreet is a big plus in a world that loves to criticize women’s choices, Harding said.
“The benefits of pouches for me are they are low-tech and simple, so there’s a lot less to carry around with you and you don’t need to think about charging or mixing,” she told Filter.
Hayyp’s report indicated that women are leading the way in migrating to nicotine pouches—with purchases by women more than tripling in 2025, compared to a 25 percent increase among men. This phenomenon has previously been seen in Sweden.
Harding can understand why pouches are particularly appealing to women. They’re less “geeky” and “fiddly” than vapes, she said, and the fact that they’re discreet is a big plus in a world that loves to criticize women’s choices.
“Getting a vape out these days is a license for someone to tell you that ‘those things are worse for you than smoking’—which is absurd, but gets a bit wearing,” Harding said.
While pouches have many benefits for people who smoked, this hints at another factor that might be prompting people to switch from vapes: misinformation about the latter.
Cullip is unsurprised that people are switching from vapes to pouches. “It’s undoubtedly because they think vapes are harmful,” he said.
Tobacco harm reduction advocate Martin Cullip uses both. He prefers vapes, but uses pouches in places where vaping isn’t permitted, such as on planes. He’s unsurprised that people are switching from vapes to pouches. “It’s undoubtedly because they think vapes are harmful,” he told Filter.
Recent research shows the majority of people in the UK incorrectly believe that vapes are either just as harmful as combustible cigarettes or worse. Demonization by the media and political moves to restrict vapes have fueled these damaging misperceptions.
However, Dr. Thomas Nahde, head of harm reduction and engagement at Imperial Brands Science, a division of the tobacco company that develops safer nicotine products, cautioned against jumping to the conclusion that this is the whole explanation for the vapes-to-pouches trend.
“Without further data it’s hard to know if that’s reflecting misconceptions around the risks of vaping or many other potential reasons,” he told Filter. “These could include format, flavors, taste, social acceptability, or simply curiosity to trial a newer nicotine category.”
Some of those factors match Harding’s experience; she said her switch to pouches largely happened simply because she was looking to expand the ways she could consume nicotine safely.
It should also be noted that pouch uptake among people who vape often doesn’t mean they’re quitting vapes entirely. Most of Harding’s friends, she said, oscillate between the two products depending on where they are, much like Cullip.
“As regulatory pressure on vaping products increases … many consumers are looking for alternatives.”
But to the extent the transition is happening, it’s driven in part by regulations restricting vapes, said Stephen Buss, a researcher with a specialization in tobacco harm reduction who has worked for a number of different companies and organizations.
“As regulatory pressure on vaping products increases through disposable vape restrictions, environmental legislation and evolving regulatory frameworks, many consumers are looking for alternative reduced-risk nicotine products,” Buss told Filter.
In April the Tobacco and Vapes Bill became law in the UK. It will restrict the visibility and variety of vapes, banning advertising and limiting flavors. What’s more, in October the new Vaping Products Duty will add £2.20 per 10ml in tax to the cost of e-liquids, doubling the price of some bottles.
Pouches, as Murphy noted, “aren’t touched by the tax.”
“Combine that with the Tobacco and Vapes Act, which introduces a dedicated regulatory framework for pouches for the first time, and you’ve got a real cost-effective and legitimacy shift happening at the same time,” she said.
“I’d expect more smokers to find pouches the simpler, more affordable option—alongside vapes, rather than instead of them.”
Buss sees it similarly. “As restrictions tighten around one reduced-risk nicotine category, many adult nicotine users will naturally explore other legally available alternatives,” he said, adding that the regulatory challenge is to ensure legislation is “proportionate and evidence-led.”
Whatever the combination of reasons, Murphy expects that the popularity of nicotine pouches will continue to grow in the UK.
“Pouches don’t need to take over vapes to matter here,” she said. “But as vaping gets more expensive and people become more familiar with pouches, I’d expect more smokers to find pouches the simpler, more affordable option—alongside vapes, rather than instead of them.”
Photograph by Jakubdrastich2 via Wikimedia Commons/Creative Commons 4.0
The Influence Foundation, which operates Filter, has received donations from GFN Ltd. Filter‘s Editorial Independence Policy applies.
