The Surge in Synthetic Nicotine Products in E-cigarette Market

Key points:

1. E-cigarette sales surged by 25% over the past year, with synthetic nicotine products accounting for 97% of the e-cigarette market.

2. Imports of synthetic nicotine surged by 80%, with experts urging swift legislation to address the market shift.

3. Earlier, the South Korean parliament planned to regulate synthetic nicotine, but the proposal was put on hold due to industry concerns over the reliability of research.

According to N.News, a report submitted by South Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare on the 10th, titled "Domestic Tobacco Product Market Survey and In-Depth Analysis of Smoking Behavior," showed that e-cigarettes stood out in market performance.

E-cigarette sales reached 19.9 billion South Korean won (approximately $14 million) in the third quarter of 2024, a 24.6% increase from the same period in 2023. During the same period, sales of heated tobacco grew by 2%, while cigarette sales fell by 3.4%.

The report also found that in 2023, synthetic nicotine products accounted for 97.2% of the e-cigarette market, while natural nicotine made up 2.8%. Imports of natural nicotine increased slightly from 554 tons in 2022 to 555 tons in 2023, a growth of less than 1%. 

In contrast, imports of synthetic nicotine surged by 80%, rising from 121 tons in 2022 to 216 tons in 2023. While natural nicotine imports remain higher in volume, synthetic nicotine has quickly dominated the market due to its more efficient production capabilities.

As of June 2024, South Korea's synthetic nicotine imports reached 162 tons, accounting for three-quarters of the previous year's total imports in just six months.

The research team noted in the report that...

Before the discussion on regulating synthetic nicotine has even begun, the e-cigarette industry has already led the market with the introduction of products with no nicotine or low nicotine. The emergence of these nicotine analogs has made market changes even more complex, making it difficult even for experts to keep up with them quickly.

The South Korean parliament planned to discuss the possibility of including synthetic nicotine in tobacco regulations last month, but the proposal is currently on hold due to concerns raised by the e-cigarette industry about the reliability of the research and emphasizing the right to survival.