Americans Are Drinking Less Alcohol Than Ever, per Gallup
Americans are drinking less alcohol than ever, per Gallup.
Just 54% of US adults said they drink alcohol in Gallup's latest Consumption Habits survey, matching the record low set a year earlier and marking the lowest reading since Gallup began tracking the question in 1939.
The survey, conducted July 1 to 19 among US adults, held at 54% for a second consecutive year after a rapid slide from 62% in 2023 and 58% in 2024.
Health Concerns Are Driving the Shift
For the second straight year, about half of Americans now say moderate drinking is bad for you.
Gallup found 51% of adults believe drinking one or two alcoholic beverages a day is detrimental to health, near last year's record high of 53% and up from just 27% in 2001.
Awareness is spreading, too. Eighty-six percent of Americans said they have heard at least something about recent studies on the long-term health effects of drinking, up from 79% in 2024.
The share of Americans who say they sometimes drink too much has also fallen to a new low of 13%. Before 2000, more than 20% routinely reported overdrinking, including a record high of 35% in 1989.
Those Still Drinking Are Drinking Less
Drinkers reported an average of 3.2 drinks in the past week, down from an average of 3.9 drinks per week across the prior five readings.
Preferences are shifting within the category as well. Beer holds a narrow lead as the drink of choice at 36%, followed by spirits at 32% and wine at 30%.
Over the longer term, Gallup noted preferences have moved toward spirits, up 12 percentage points since 2016, and away from beer, down seven points, while wine has held near 30%.
Younger and middle-aged drinkers favor liquor most, and among adults aged 18 to 34, spirits at 38% were nearly equal with beer at 36%, a sharp change from a decade ago.
The Non-Alcoholic Alternative Is Going Mainstream
Seventeen percent of Americans, including 20% of drinkers, said they consumed a non-alcoholic beer, wine, or spirit instead of an alcoholic drink at some point in the past year.
Among drinkers who consume non-alcoholic drinks, 38% said they are drinking more of them than they used to.
Restaurants and brands are responding, with zero-proof cocktails moving onto mainstream menus and the low and no alcohol category growing faster than many full-strength categories.
What It Means for Markets
A shrinking drinker base is a structural headwind for alcohol stocks, and the options market has taken notice of the group.
Beer giants BUD and TAP face the steepest exposure as beer loses share to spirits, while STZ carries both beer and wine exposure alongside its spirits portfolio.
Premium spirits names like DEO are relatively better positioned given the mix shift toward liquor, though no major producer is immune to a two-year slide in the overall drinker population.
Watch for unusual put flow in alcohol names around earnings, as brewers guide on volumes. Competition from cannabis and non-alcoholic brands only adds to the pressure on the group.
The Bottom Line
The American drinker is disappearing at a pace not seen in nearly 90 years of polling.
For alcohol producers, the question is no longer whether the trend is real, but how fast they can pivot to spirits, premiumization, and zero-proof products to offset it.
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