Tobacco & Vaping 101: Delaware

Lawmakers are often bombarded with misinformation on the products used by adults in their state. This annual analysis provides up-to-date data on the adults who use cigarettes and e-cigarette products in the First State. This information aslo includes data on youth use, impacts of e-cigarettes and analyses of existing tobacco monies.

Key Points: 

• In 2022, 104,525 Delaware adults (12.9 percent) were currently smoking. This is a 3.7 percent decrease from 2021 and represents 2,017 fewer adults smoking.
• In 2022 (among all Delaware adults), 4.5 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds, 16.7 percent of 25–44-year-olds, 16.7 percent of 45–64-year-olds, and 7.7 percent of adults aged 65 years or older were currently smoking combustible cigarettes.
• Among all adults earning $25,000 or less in 2022, 26.8 percent were currently smoking compared to only 8.4 percent of adults earning $50,000 or more.
• Among all smoking adults in Delaware in 2022, 68.8 percent were White, 25 percent were Black, 4.8 percent were Hispanic, 1.3 percent were Multiracial (non-Hispanic) and 0.1 percent were Asian.
• In 2022, 49,426 Delaware adults (6.1 percent) were currently using e-cigarettes. This is a 0 percent change from 2021, but due to population increases, there were 926 additional adults vaping.
• Among all vaping adults in Delaware in 2022, 23.7 percent were 18 to 24 years old, 51.8 percent were 25 to 44 years old, 19.3 percent were 45 to 64 years old and 5.2 percent were 65 years or older.
• In 2021, for every one Delaware high school student who was smoking, more than 89 adults were currently using cigarettes.
• In 2021, for every one Delaware high school student who was vaping, more than six 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 2018 and 2022, smoking rates among Delaware adults aged 18 to 24 years old decreased by 57.1percent.
• Cigarette excise taxes in Delaware disproportionately impact low income, low education persons, while failing to significantly reduce smoking rates among that class.
• The percentage of Delaware adults earning $25,000 or less that were smoking decreased by 48.2 percent between 2002 and 2022, while the percent of adults earning $50,000 or more that were smoking decreased by 58.8 percent during the same period.
• Among Delaware adults who did not graduate high school, smoking rates decreased by 36.9 percent, yet rates among adults with a college degree decreased by 70.3 percent.
• Delaware 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 2022, for every $1 the state received in tobacco monies, it spent $0.05 on tobacco control efforts.