For the first time since the pandemic, Americans are reportedly drinking less, although overall alcohol consumption still exceeds pre-2020 levels. This finding comes from a study published on Monday in Annals of Internal Medicine.
While the drop in drinking rates is modest—about 1%—it’s a positive sign considering that heavy alcohol use significantly surged during the pandemic, as noted by senior study author Dr. Brian P. Lee, a liver transplant physician at Keck Medicine of USC in Los Angeles.
That said, Lee pointed out that “these trends haven’t been even across the board.”
The study, based on data from the National Health Interview Survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, observed that drinking habits among Gen Z and millennials showed a decline from 2022 to 2024. However, an increase in drinking was noted among those aged 50 to 64. The analysis covered survey results from the years 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2024.
Interestingly, men indicated a more significant decrease in drinking than women during the said period—2.4% compared to 1.1%. However, heavy drinking among women saw a decrease of 9%, as opposed to a 7.7% decline among men. The study categorized heavy drinking as five or more drinks per day or 15 or more per week for men, and four drinks per day or eight per week for women.
Among age groups, Gen Z adults experienced the most significant drop in overall drinking, exceeding 5%, while millennials reported the largest reduction in heavy drinking, which fell by 17%. Despite these reductions, both demographics still exhibited slightly higher drinking rates than in 2018.
Lee expressed concern specifically about the rising trend of heavy drinking among adults aged 50 to 64, which has been consistently increasing since 2018. By 2024, about 2% more individuals in this age category reported heavy drinking compared to 2022, with an overall increase of over one-third since 2018.
“This 30% increase translates to roughly a million individuals drinking heavily in that age group alone,” Lee commented.
Moreover, drinking can elevate the risks of various health issues such as high blood pressure, strokes, and digestive problems. In recent times, alcohol-related liver disease has emerged as the leading cause of liver transplants in the U.S. Alarmingly, cancer deaths associated with alcohol have doubled over the last 30 years.
According to Lee, age significantly affects how alcohol impacts the body. “The average age for developing cirrhosis is in the 50s, and we know that a 50-year-old liver is more susceptible to damage from the same amount of alcohol than a 20-year-old’s liver,” he explained. “The risk, therefore, isn’t uniform across different ages, making this middle-aged demographic particularly concerning.”
Moreover, individuals in their 50s and 60s who currently engage in heavy drinking have likely been consuming alcohol for years, heightening their vulnerability to alcohol-related health issues, stated Dr. Michael Siegel, a public health and community medicine professor at Tufts University School of Medicine.
“We’re dealing with significant alcohol intake that will likely lead to health complications, and the fact that these trends haven’t shown a considerable decline is alarming,” Siegel noted.
Priscilla Martinez-Matyszczyk, deputy scientific director of the Alcohol Research Group, pointed out that alcohol consumption has been steadily increasing since around the year 2000, following a decline in the late 1980s and 1990s. According to her, drinking peaked in 2020, with heavy alcohol use jumping by 20% and overall consumption rising by 4% compared to 2018.
“Historically, we’ve witnessed spikes in alcohol use after significant traumatic events,” Martinez-Matyszczyk remarked, referencing the uptick in alcohol consumption post-9/11. “You might see a temporary bump followed by a slight drop, but these trends often revert to the previous trajectory. And there was already an upward trend prior to the pandemic.”
