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AIM: Young People Are Drinking Less Alcohol, While Older Adults Are Drinking More Heavily
Researchers at Keck Medicine of USC have found that alcohol consumption among U.S. adults declined for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, showed that between 2022 and 2024, the proportion of adults who drank alcohol fell by nearly 2%, while the rate of heavy drinking decreased by more than 8%. Despite this positive trend, overall alcohol consumption remains above pre-pandemic levels.
The decline was driven primarily by younger generations. Generation Z adults reduced their alcohol consumption by more than 5%, while millennials recorded the largest decrease in heavy drinking, at 17% over two years. Men reduced their alcohol consumption more than women overall — by 2.4% compared with 1.1% — while women showed a greater decline in heavy drinking, at 9% versus 7.7% among men.
At the same time, the data revealed a concerning trend among adults aged 50 to 64. From 2018 to 2024, overall alcohol consumption in this age group increased by nearly 4%, while heavy drinking rose by more than 36%. According to physicians, increased alcohol consumption among older adults is particularly concerning because the risk of alcohol-related diseases rises with age.
The researchers analyzed data from more than 114,000 U.S. adults between 2018 and 2024. In the study, heavy drinking was defined as consuming five or more alcoholic drinks per day for men and four or more for women.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), excessive alcohol consumption is one of the leading preventable causes of death in the United States. Alcohol accounts for about half of all deaths associated with liver disease, while alcohol-related cirrhosis has become the leading reason for liver transplantation.
Although younger people’s reduced drinking has been linked to changing social attitudes toward alcohol, medical experts emphasize that lower consumption among young adults should not automatically be interpreted as a reduction in alcohol-related health risks.
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