Giving up the booze
Sobriety is not good for the alcohol industry
Americans are drinking less than ever—and a growing share are teetotalers. What’s behind the trend?
What do the numbers show?
That the U.S. is losing its taste for the hard stuff. In a recent Gallup survey, 54% of American adults said they consumed alcohol, the lowest level since the pollster began tracking drinking behavior in 1939. The share of
drinkers has dropped steadily and sharply since 2022, when 67% admitted they at least occasionally imbibed beer, wine, or spirits. And those that do still drink are knocking back far less: Pure alcohol consumption per person fell 3% in 2024, the biggest drop since the Prohibition era a century ago, according to the research firm Bernstein. While Gen Z often grabs headlines for its “sober curious” lifestyle—only 50% of Americans ages 18 to 34 say they drink—drinking is down across all generations, with the share of active drinkers among 35-to-54-year-olds dropping 10 percentage points since 2023 to 56%, and 5 points among those 55 and over, also to 56%. And those numbers could keep falling: 40% of adults told pollster Ipsos that their New Year’s resolution for 2026 was to drink less alcohol.
Why are people turning away?
It’s partly an aftershock of the Covid era. The stress, isolation, and boredom of the pandemic led Americans to ramp up their drinking, especially at home. Beer, wine, and liquor store sales spiked by about $42 billion from March to September 2020—a 20% increase over the same period in 2019. And the share of Americans who reported consuming alcohol at levels defined as “heavy drinking” (at least 15 drinks a week for men, and eight for women) went from 5.1% in 2018 to 6.1% in 2020 and 6.3% in 2022. After those years of excess, it’s understandable that many people wanted to get sober or curb their drinking, said Malcolm Purinton, a beer historian at Northeastern University. “Pendulums do swing back and forth,” he said. But a growing awareness of alcohol’s health risks is also causing Americans to shun booze.
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What’s happening?
Experts say alcohol is going through a “tobacco moment,” a reference to the 1970s tipping point when the public became aware of smoking’s links to cancer and cigarette sales started to plummet. A decade or so ago, “there was this perception that a glass of red wine with dinner every night might actually help you live longer,” said addiction specialist Dr. Scott Hadland. But in recent years, research has revealed the dangers of even moderate drinking. In early 2025, then–surgeon general Vivek Murthy issued a landmark advisory warning that no level of alcohol consumption is safe, noting that women who have just one drink a day have a 19% risk of developing an alcohol-related cancer, and that men who do the same have an 11% risk. Such warnings seem to be resonating: For the first time, a majority of Americans—53%—now say having one or two drinks a day is unhealthy, according to Gallup.
Are other factors at play?
There’s some evidence that GLP-1 weight loss drugs such as Ozempic or Wegovy, which about 1 in 8 adults now take, may stifle the desire to drink. But for Gen Z, social factors are likely the biggest driver. Younger people who saw their parents pound drinks during the pandemic might be embracing sobriety as a way to rebel, said Purinton. They’re expressing their individuality by saying, “I’m not going to be inebriated. I’m going to have control because you all didn’t.” The fear of being photographed drunk and shamed on social media is also a powerful deterrent. But Atsushi Katsuki, CEO of Japanese brewer Asahi, believes the biggest reason for the drop in drinking among young people is that they socialize less in person. Gaming, video streaming, and social media, he said, are eating into “alcohol’s share of fun, enjoyment, and happiness.”
Is the alcohol industry hurting?
It’s being battered not only by the drop in drinking but also by consumers’ economic worries and the shock waves of President Trump’s
tariffs. As of October, shares of the world’s top listed beer, wine, and spirits makers had lost a combined $830 billion in just over four years, a total loss in market value of nearly 50%. Jim Beam, America’s largest bourbon maker, announced last month it will halt production at its flagship Kentucky facility for one year. And it’s not just the giants who are struggling. In 2024 and 2025, there were more closures than openings of small breweries—a stark reversal for the two-decade-old craft-beer boom. Winemakers face similar troubles: John Balletto, owner of Balletto Vineyards in Sonoma, Calif., said he expects his 2025 losses to hit $3 million, and that 30% of his grapes went unsold last year for the first time in a quarter-century. Few industry insiders expect a turnaround anytime
soon. Instead, they are looking to adapt.
How are they doing that?
By embracing alcohol-free beer, wine, and mocktails. Annual sales of
nonalcoholic (NA) beverages hit $1 billion in 2025, with NA beer sales rocketing by 22% from 2023 to 2024. Drinks giants are especially focused on crafting high-quality NA versions of their biggest brews—a tricky scientific task because ethanol is key to any beer’s taste. U.K.-based Diageo has invested more than $70 million in Guinness 0 production since the alcohol-free stout launched globally in 2021; the NA beer made up more than half of the Guinness brand’s growth in the U.S. in 2024. Other firms are selling “functional” drinks infused with supposedly mood-altering CBD oil, mushrooms, or botanicals. But analysts don’t know if consumers will embrace such options en masse, and some speculate that Americans may eventually rediscover their taste for alcohol. Andrew Gowen, head of research for Bell Asset Management, said this uncertainty is why his investment firm is avoiding the alcohol sector for now. “This industry’s been around for 7,000 years,” he said, “but a lot can change.”
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