MySQL 8.0 Reference Manual
MySQL 8.0 Release Notes
utf8 has been used by MySQL in the past as an
alias for the utf8mb3 character set, but this
usage is now deprecated; in MySQL 8.0,
SHOW statements and columns of
INFORMATION_SCHEMA tables display
utf8mb3 instead. For more information, see
Section 1.9.2, “The utf8mb3 Character Set (3-Byte UTF-8 Unicode Encoding)”.
Note
The recommended character set for MySQL is
utf8mb4. All new applications should use
utf8mb4.
The utf8mb3 character set is deprecated.
utf8mb3 remains supported for the lifetimes
of the MySQL 8.0.x and following LTS release series, as well
as in MySQL 8.0.
Expect utf8mb3 to be removed in a future
major release of MySQL.
Since changing character sets can be a complex and
time-consuming task, you should begin to prepare for this
change now by using utf8mb4 for new
applications. For guidance in converting existing applications
which use utfmb3, see
Section 1.9.8, “Converting Between 3-Byte and 4-Byte Unicode Character Sets”.