Introduction:
In the 21st century, snus users and smokers has had quite different social profiles in Norway, with smoking much more than snus use being associated with lower social economic strata. It is not known if the social profiles of young users mirror that of adults, but research has pointed at ideas in the youth population about popularity and normality of snus use that are not found for smoking. Daily smoking has gone down to ca 3% among Norwegian youth over the last 20 years, while daily snus use has increased to ca 18%. The objective of this study was to investigate the relevance of social economic status and other risk factors for snus use and smoking among people in their late teens.

Material and Methods:
Based on data from the 5. wave of the longitudinal MyLife school survey, collected in 2021 (N = 1830, age 16.8-20.6 years, 64% girls), logistic regressions was performed with snus use and smoking at w5 as dependent, and early alcohol and tobacco use, personal characteristics, and parents’ education as independent variables.

Results:
Social economic status (parents’ education) was negatively associated with both snus use and smoking. Dual use and snus use were more common in the lower social economic group. Sensation seeking and depression increased the risk for snus use and smoking. Fear of missing out increased the risk for smoking. Higher age increased the risk for snus use.

Conclusions:
The results did not support a difference in the social economic background of young people using snus or smoking but suggested a lower social economic profile of dual users.