Salt Lake City • In Mormon dominated Utah where alcohol is frowned upon, liquor sales keep climbing each year. State residents bought nearly $428 million in alcohol last year to set another record, continuing a two-decade trend likely fueled a steady influx of new out-of-state residents and a thriving tourism sector.
Alcohol sales at Utah restaurants, bars and 45 state-controlled liquor stores rose 5 percent last fiscal year, shows an annual report released this month from Utah’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
Sales have increased each year going back to 1996, the first year state data is available.