The share of Americans who drink alcohol has fallen to its lowest point in nearly a century, according to Gallup’s 2025 Consumption Habits survey.
Just 54% of U.S. adults reported drinking this year, down sharply from 67% in 2022 and below the previous low of 55% recorded in 1958. Only 24% of respondents said they had consumed alcohol in the past 24 hours, another record low. The survey, which has tracked American drinking habits since 1939, reflects both cultural shifts and growing concern over alcohol’s impact on health.
A Changing View of Alcohol and Health
For the first time since Gallup began asking in 2001, a majority of Americans—53%—said they believe even moderate drinking is harmful. That’s up from 28% in 2018 and 45% just last year. Only 6% now believe alcohol benefits health, the lowest figure recorded.
This marks a reversal from the 1990s and early 2000s, when research around the so-called “French Paradox” fueled a boom in wine consumption. More recent studies, however, have linked alcohol to cancer and other health risks. In 2023, the World Health Organization declared no level of alcohol safe, and this year the U.S. surgeon general cited alcohol as the nation’s third leading preventable cause of cancer.
“We’re seeing how quickly Americans have absorbed the information that drinking is likely bad for your health,” said Gallup researcher Lydia Saad. She compared alcohol’s trajectory to tobacco, which began a long decline after government health warnings in the 1960s.
Drinking Habits Decline
Even those who continue to drink are cutting back. Americans now report consuming an average of 2.8 drinks over the past week, the lowest since 1996, compared to 3.8 a year ago. Forty percent of drinkers said it had been at least a week since their last drink, a 25-year high.
The decline is especially sharp among young adults. Just 50% of Americans ages 18–35 reported drinking in 2025, compared to 72% in the early 2000s. Two-thirds of young adults now believe moderate drinking is harmful, suggesting the shift could persist for decades.
The trend is also pronounced among women, white adults, and Republicans, all showing double-digit declines in alcohol use over the past two years. Lower-income households saw the steepest drop, but even high-income groups are drinking less, possibly due to health awareness as much as cost.
Impact on the Alcohol Industry
The slump poses major challenges for California’s $55 billion wine industry, already facing its lowest consumption levels in 30 years.
Beer remains America’s most popular alcoholic beverage at 38%, followed by liquor (30%) and wine (29%). But younger adults are less likely than ever to choose wine, while canned cocktails and other “ready to drink” options have grown in popularity.
While some analysts have blamed marijuana legalization for alcohol’s decline, Gallup’s data shows cannabis use has leveled off and isn’t driving the shift. Instead, experts point to a growing cultural and medical consensus that drinking—once viewed as relatively harmless—is now considered a risk to long-term health.