According to a survey by the Ministry of Health and Welfare of South Korea. Vape sales increased by 25% in a year, synthetic nicotine products accounted for 97.2%, and imports soared by 80%. Experts have called for legal changes and regulation, but proposals have stalled amid industry skepticism.
Korea market survey: Vape sales increase by 25 percent
According to N.EWS reported on March 10, the Ministry of Health and Welfare of the National Assembly of South Korea submitted on the 10th “Tobacco products domestic circulation market survey and in-depth analysis of smoking behavior” report shows that in the third quarter of 2024, vape sales were 19.9 billion won (about 14 million US dollars), an increase of 24.6% over the same period in 2023. During the same period, sales of heated tobacco increased by only 2%, while sales of cigarettes decreased by 3.4%. Vapes are particularly prominent in the market.
According to the report. The proportion of synthetic nicotine products in vapes in 2023 is as high as 97.2%, and natural nicotine accounts for 2.8%. Imports of natural nicotine increased from 55.4 billion tons in 2022 to 55.5 billion tons in 2023, an increase of less than 1%, while imports of synthetic nicotine surged from 12.1 billion tons in 2022 to 21.6 billion tons in 2023, an increase of up to 80%. Even though natural nicotine imports are higher in volume, synthetic nicotine has quickly captured the market through its efficient production capacity.
By June 2024, South Korea’s imports of synthetic nicotine had reached 162 tons, three-quarters of the previous year’s total imports in just six months.
As the team notes in their report,
- “Before synthetic nicotine regulatory discussions took place. The vape industry was already leading the way by introducing nicotine-free or low-nicotine products. The emergence of these nicotine analogs has made market changes more complex and difficult for even experts to keep up quickly.”
South Korea’s National Assembly was scheduled to discuss the possibility of including synthetic nicotine in tobacco regulation last month, but the proposal remains on hold as the vape industry questions the reliability of the research and stresses the right to survival.
