Drinking Rate Plunges to Record Low in US, New Poll Shows

Newsweek

2 days ago

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Alcohol consumption among U.S. adults has fallen to its lowest recorded level in nearly 90 years, with 54 percent saying they drink, down from 58 percent a year ago, according to Gallup's latest annual survey.
Why It Matters
Gallup has tracked alcohol consumption among U.S. adults since 1939. The latest figure falls below the previous record low of 55 percent in 1958.
The poll also found that a majority of Americans, 53 percent, believe that moderate drinking is bad for one's health. Alcohol can lead to many health problems, including liver diseases and increased risk of some cancers.
Mixed drinks are displayed at a bar in Baltimore on February 8, 2023.
Mixed drinks are displayed at a bar in Baltimore on February 8, 2023.
AP Photo/Julio Cortez
What To Know
The latest Gallup survey, conducted July 7-21, found that a smaller share of Americans are drinking alcohol than at any point in the poll's history. In the mid-1970s, the share peaked at 71 percent for three consecutive years starting in 1976.
Since then, drinking rates have generally trended downward, averaging about 60 percent, with periodic rises and dips. In 2022, 67 percent of adults said they drank alcohol, which Gallup noted as an outlier, followed by 62 percent in 2023, 58 percent in 2024 and 54 percent this year.
The poll found that the decline in drinking is disproportionately among women, down 11 percentage points since 2023, to 51 percent, whereas men are down 5 points, at 57 percent. Along party lines, 61 percent of surveyed Democrats drink compared with 46 percent of Republicans.
A record-low 54% of Americans say they consume alcohol. pic.twitter.com/PsEQUL7jgk — Gallup (@Gallup) August 13, 2025
The survey also found that 53 percent of Americans say drinking in moderation, which is one to two drinks a day, is bad for one's health. Thirty-seven percent believe it does not make a difference.
The results come as 45 percent of Americans believe moderate drinking is bad for health, according to a Gallup poll last year. That poll found drinking beliefs vary greatly among age groups, with 65 percent of young U.S. adults aged 18 to 34 believing that alcohol consumption negatively affects one's health, while 37 percent and 39 percent hold that view among those aged 35 to 54 and 55 and older, respectively.
The view has shifted sharply in recent years. Between 2001 and 2011, about 25 percent of Americans said drinking was good for one's health. Women are more likely than men to view moderate drinking as unhealthy, 60 percent to 47 percent, respectively.
The poll also found the lowest recorded figure of average number of drinks over the past week since 1996 at 2.8.
What People Are Saying
Lydia Saad, Gallup's director of social research, in the August 13 survey announcement: "The declines in alcohol consumption does not appear to be caused by people shifting to other mood-altering substances—in particular, recreational marijuana, which is now legal in about half of U.S. states."
The Office of the Surgeon General, in a January 2025 announcement: "Alcohol consumption is the third-leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, after tobacco and obesity."
What Happens Next
As Americans' drinking habits shift, the change is expected to affect the alcohol industry as well as the growing market for alternative beverages, driven in part by rising health concerns.