For The First Time Since The Start Of The COVID-19 Pandemic, Scientists Have Recorded A Decline In Alcohol Consumption
- 22.09.2026, 12:52
The decline in alcohol consumption was primarily driven by the younger generation.
Researchers at Keck Medicine of the University of Southern California have found that alcohol consumption among adults in the U.S. has declined for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. A study published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, showed that from 2022 to 2024, the number of people who drink decreased by nearly 2%, and the proportion of heavy drinkers fell by more than 8%. Despite this positive trend, overall alcohol consumption remains higher than pre-pandemic levels.
The decline in alcohol consumption was driven primarily by the younger generation. Members of Generation Z reduced their alcohol consumption by more than 5%, while millennials showed the largest decline in heavy drinking—by 17% over two years. Interestingly, men overall reduced their alcohol consumption more significantly than women (by 2.4% versus 1.1%), but women showed greater progress in reducing heavy drinking (by 9% versus 7.7% among men).
At the same time, the data revealed an extremely alarming trend among adults aged 50 to 64. In this group, from 2018 to 2024, overall alcohol consumption rose by nearly 4%, while rates of heavy drinking increased by more than 36%. According to medical experts, the rise in alcohol abuse among older adults is particularly dangerous, as the risk of developing alcohol-related diseases increases with age.
Experts analyzed data from more than 114,000 American adults for the period from 2018 to 2024. In this study, heavy drinking is defined as consuming five or more drinks per day for men and four or more for women. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, excessive alcohol consumption is one of the leading preventable causes of death in the country. Alcohol accounts for about half of all deaths related to liver disease, and cirrhosis associated with alcohol consumption has become the leading cause of liver transplants. Although young people’s move away from harmful habits is linked to changing social attitudes, medical experts emphasize that one cannot automatically assume a reduction in health risks among young people.