The percentage of US adults that say they consume alcohol has reached a record low, a new poll shows.
A ‘Consumption Habits’ survey from US analytics firm Gallup shows the percentage has dropped to 54%, the lowest level seen in the poll’s nearly 90-year history.
Go deeper with GlobalData
The previous record low tracked by the group was 55% in 1958.
Between 1997 and 2023, at least six in ten US adults said they consumed alcohol, with the proportion standing at 62% in 2023.
The percentage then slipped to 58% in 2024 and has now dropped to 54%.
Gallup’s Consumption Habits survey was conducted between 7 and 21 July. The group did not disclose the number of US consumers questioned in the poll.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataUsing 2023’s 62% figure as a baseline, Gallup found that the drop in alcohol consumption has been sharper among women, falling 11 percentage points to 51%, compared with a five-point decline among men to 57%.
Young adults are also a key demographic behind the recent downturn, Gallup said, with the proportion reporting they drink falling from 59% in 2023 to 50% in the latest survey.
Gallup director of US social research and author of the study Lydia Saad said the trend “coincides with a growing belief among Americans that moderate alcohol consumption is bad for one’s health, now the majority view for the first time”.
Gallup’s poll also found that 53% of Americans reported that they saw moderate drinking, defined as one or two drinks per day, as being harmful to health.
Only 6% consider it good for health, while 37% think it has no effect, the survey found.
The share viewing moderate alcohol consumption as unhealthy has risen steadily, from 28% in 2018 to 39% in 2023, climbing again to 45% last year before reaching the present 53% level.
The survey also found beer remains the most commonly chosen alcoholic drink among US consumers, ahead of the 30% who favour spirits and the 29% who opt for wine.
Gallup’s Saad suggested US drinking trends “may hinge on whether recent pronouncements about drinking’s risks are the final word on the subject, similar to how the US surgeon general’s warnings about tobacco in the 1960s marked the start of a long-term decline in smoking”.
She added: “The trajectory of U.S. drinking could also depend on how much doctors, health authorities and policymakers reinforce the message that no amount of alcohol is risk-free.”
