Global Nicotine Pouch Market 2026: What Public Filings Actually Show
Short answer: no public company filing provides a complete global nicotine pouch market size. The strongest disclosed 2025 data points are 797.9 million nicotine-pouch cans shipped in PMI’s Americas segment, 12.2 billion individual Modern Oral pouches at BAT and 177.8 million on! cans shipped in the US by Altria. The figures use different geographies, units and portfolios and must not be added together as market shares.
Three large numbers – three different definitions
| Company | 2025 data | What the figure actually means |
|---|---|---|
| PMI / Swedish Match | 797.9 million cans | Nicotine-pouch shipments in the Americas segment, predominantly ZYN in the US. PMI separately reports 794 million US ZYN cans. |
| BAT | 12.2 billion pouches £1.165 billion revenue | Individual Modern Oral pouches and revenue across BAT’s global reporting perimeter; the portfolio is led by VELO but includes other brands. |
| Altria / Helix | 177.8 million cans | US on! shipments, including sold cans and promotional units. |
| Imperial Brands | No separate pouch figure | Reports NGP revenue across vapour, heated products and modern oral together, so Zone or Skruf cannot be isolated from the segment number. |
Why this is not a global market size
A market-size figure needs a common unit, period, geography and point in the value chain. These disclosures meet none of those conditions as a group. PMI and Altria report cans, mainly in the US. BAT reports individual pouches globally. Imperial reports combined revenue for several next-generation product categories. Independent manufacturers and several large groups also lack comparable public figures.
Company filings primarily report shipments into distribution, while consumer demand is often measured as retail offtake or scanned sales. Inventory movements can therefore cause shipments and consumption to move differently within the same quarter.
A mechanical conversion shows why units matter
PMI states that US ZYN cans contain 15 pouches. Multiplying 794 million cans by 15 gives approximately 11.91 billion pouches. That is close to BAT’s reported 12.2 billion, but it does not prove equal global scale: the PMI number is one US brand, while BAT’s covers a broader portfolio and more markets. The conversion makes the units readable; it does not turn them into comparable market shares.
What the filings do establish
- The category operates at industrial scale. Both US ZYN and BAT’s global Modern Oral portfolio represent double-digit billions of pouches.
- Growth is high among reporting leaders. BAT says volume rose 47.1% to 12.2 billion pouches. PMI’s Americas table shows 797.9 million nicotine-pouch cans versus 581.4 million in 2024.
- Volume and share can move in different directions. Altria’s on! shipments rose 10.9% in 2025 while its reported US nicotine-pouch category share declined to 15.4%. The category grew faster than the brand.
- Reporting quality matters competitively. Any comparison must document unit, geography, period, channel and whether a figure measures shipments, retail or revenue.
H1 2026: ZYN and VELO are taking different growth routes
The half-year reporting shows two different strategies behind the largest international nicotine-pouch brands. PMI reported 2.9 billion ZYN pouches shipped in the second quarter, 1.8% more than a year earlier, while describing US retail offtake as flat to slightly growing in a growing category. BAT instead reported 65.9% Modern Oral revenue growth in the first half and a 39.2% volume share across its defined top markets.
| Company | Reported development | 2026 portfolio decision | What the figure does not prove |
|---|---|---|---|
| PMI / ZYN | 2.9 billion pouches in Q2; +1.8% versus Q2 2025 | ZYN Ultra at 9 and 11 mg, more dry flavours and planned 1.5 and 8 mg dry variants. PMI said ZYN was available in 60 markets. | Quarterly shipments are not global retail sales or market share. |
| BAT / VELO | Modern Oral revenue +65.9% in H1; 39.2% volume share in BAT's top markets | Continued US VELO Plus expansion and a planned national VELO Max rollout in the second half. | “Top markets” is BAT's reporting perimeter, and revenue growth is not an absolute global market size. |
What the strategies say about competition
PMI is widening the ZYN portfolio. The company is combining more strengths, dry and moister formats and wider geographic reach. FDA's MRTP decision for 20 products in the flagship ZYN range on 30 June is a regulatory asset, but not a blanket authorization for future ZYN products.
BAT is using distribution and multiple platforms. BAT says VELO Plus drove US performance while VELO continued growing in AME and APMEA. The planned VELO Max launch shows the group trying to cover more subsegments within the same corporate portfolio.
Our assessment PMI's 2026 route is to defend ZYN's reach and price position through assortment breadth and regulatory support. BAT's route is rapid share gains, US distribution and multiple product platforms. Both readings use company-defined measures and should be checked against comparable retail evidence when it becomes available.
Update 29 October: PMI’s third-quarter report shows US ZYN shipments up 4.2% to 3.2 billion pouches, and PMI is moving most of the flagship range to 20-pouch cans, which lowers the price per pouch (PMI; see our analysis). At its Capital Markets Day in September, BAT said it expects nicotine pouch industry revenue to triple between 2025 and 2030, and reported Modern Oral revenue of £1.17 billion in 2025, up 47.4% (Nicotine Insider). The forecast is BAT’s own and is not a market measurement.
What we do not publish as fact
The 170-page sampler used in the research identifies useful segments, companies and methods but masks market size, growth and share figures as “XX”. Chart axes and page design cannot fill those gaps. We use it as a topic map, not as evidence for numerical forecasts.
How to assess a market forecast
- Check whether value means retail sales, manufacturer revenue or shipment volume.
- Check whether snus, nicotine pouches, nicotine replacement products or other oral products are included.
- Check the base year, currency, nominal or real prices and geographic coverage.
- Require the CAGR to reconcile to an actual start and end value.
- Benchmark the forecast against company and regulator primary sources before citing it.
Further reading
Primary sources
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