Tobacco & Vaping 101: Hawaii

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 Aloha State. This information aslo includes data on youth use, impacts of e-cigarettes and analyses of existing tobacco monies.

Key Points: 

• In 2022, an estimated 141,716 adults (12.4 percent) were currently smoking. This a 22.8 percent increase from 2021 and represents 26,863 additional adults smoking.
• In 2022 (among all Hawaii adults), three percent of 18- to 24-year-olds, 14.2 percent of 25–44-year-olds, 11.6 percent of 45–64-year-olds, and 5.7 percent of adults aged 65 years or older were currently smoking combustible cigarettes.
• Among all adults earning $25,000 or less in 2022, 20.3 percent were currently smoking compared to only 6.2 percent of adults earning $50,000 or more.
• Among all smoking adults in Hawaii in 2022, 26.7 percent were Asian, 25.8 percent were Multiracial (non-Hispanic), 23.7 percent were White, 13 percent were Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, 9.3 percent were Hispanic, and 1.4 percent were Black.
• In 2022, 100,573 Hawaii adults (8.8 percent) were currently using e-cigarettes. This is a 20.5 percent decrease from 2021 and represents 17,560 additional adults vaping.
• Among all vaping adults in Hawaii in 2022, 32.2 percent were 18 to 24 years old, 49.8 percent were 25 to 44 years old, 15 percent were 45 to 64 years old and 2.9 percent were 45 to 64 years old and five percent were 65 years or older.
• In 2021, for every one Hawaii high school student who was smoking, more than 73 adults were currently using cigarettes.
• In 2021, for every one Hawaii high school student who was vaping, more than 10 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 Hawaii adults aged 18 to 24 years old decreased by 77.1 percent.
• Cigarette excise taxes in Hawaii disproportionately impact low income and low educated persons, while failing to significantly reduce smoking rates among that class.
• The percentage of Hawaii adults earning $25,000 or less that were decreased by only 33.1 percent between 2011 and 2022, while the percent of adults earning $50,000 or more that were smoking decreased by 45.3 percent during the same period.
• Among Hawaii adults who did not graduate high school, smoking rates decreased by 18.5 percent, and rates among adults with a college degree decreased by 44.1 percent.
• Hawaii 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 $0.06 on tobacco control efforts.