Key Points:

• In 2023, 149,075 Utah adults (6 percent) were currently smoking. This is a 10.4 percent decrease from 2022 and represents 14,348 fewer adults smoking.

• Among all smoking adults in Utah in 2023, 8.6 percent were 18 to 24 years old, 39.4 percent were 25 to 44 years old, 34.7 percent were 45 to 64 years old, and 17.4 percent were 23.5 years or older.

• Among all adults earning $25,000 or less in 2023, 18.2 percent were currently smoking compared to 3.4 percent of adults earning $50,000 or more.

• Among all smoking adults in Utah in 2023, 61.9 percent were White, 21.3 percent were Hispanic, 5 percent were Multiracial, 3.5 percent were American Indian/Alaska Native, 3.4 percent were Asian, 2.9 percent were Black, and 2.1 percent were Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.

• In 2023, 166,467 Utah adults (6.7 percent) were currently using e-cigarettes. This is an 11.8 percent decrease from 2022 and represents 18,908 fewer adults vaping.

• Among all vaping adults in Utah in 2023, 28.7 percent were 18 to 24 years old, 55.2 percent were 25 to 44 years old, 14 percent were 45 to 64 years old and 2.1 percent were 65 years or older.

• In 2023, for every one Utah high school student who was smoking, more than 35 adults were currently using cigarettes.

• In 2023, for every one Utah high school student who was vaping, more than seven adults were currently using e-cigarettes.

• The introduction of e-cigarettes has not led to increases in cigarette smoking, but rather, correlates with significant declines in smoking rates among young adults.

• Between 2007 and 2023, smoking rates among Utah adults aged 18 to 24 years old decreased by 70 percent.

• E-cigarette use has decreased among Utah young adults. Between 2022 and 2023, e-cigarette use among 18- to 24-year-olds decreased by 29.9 percent.

• Cigarette excise taxes in Utah disproportionately impact low income and low education persons, while failing to significantly reduce smoking rates among that class.

• Among Utah adults earning $25,000 or less, smoking increased on average by 2.3 percent annually between 2003 and 2023, while rates among adults earning $50,000 or more decreased by 2.9 percent during the same period.

• In 2023, low-income adults were 2.3 times more likely to smoke than high income earners.

• In 2023, among Utah adults who did not graduate high school, 18.3 percent were currently smoking, while only 1.7 percent of college graduates were smoking.

• In 2023, adults lacking a high school diploma were 3.4 times more likely to smoke than college graduates.

• Utah woefully underfunds programs to prevent youth use of tobacco and/or vapor products and help adults quit smoking, while simultaneously receiving millions of dollars from the pockets of the adults who smoke. In 2023, for every $1 the state received in tobacco monies, it spent only $0.15 on tobacco control efforts.