Drug use disorders are often classified within the same category as mental health disorders — research and data on mental health can be found on our topic page here. Discover how many people with alcohol use disorder in the United States receive treatment across age groups and demographics. Find out how many people have alcohol use disorder in the United States across age groups and demographics. NielsenIQ reported that growth was driven by super-premium (75cl bottle priced between $15.99 and $29.99) and ultra-premium (between $30 and $49.99) price tiers. According to Numerator, 90% of Millennials purchased alcohol during the 52-week period ending in May 2021, compared to 84% of 21 and older Gen Z shoppers. Gen Zs reasons for not buying included “alcohol’s impact on libs mushrooms their mood, level of alertness, and even image on social media.”
Alcohol consumption by type of alcoholic beverage
- Decanter’s January 2022 “Top wine Trends for 2022” listed the average consumer’s “inability…to afford” wines from Burgundy, Bordeaux, and Champagne.
- Percentage change in per capita ethanol consumption, United States, 1977–2021.
- Thus, the 2021 national annual per capita consumption level of 2.51 gallons of ethanol equates to a person aged 14 or older consuming approximately an average of 535.5 standard drinks in a year.
- In the chart, we see the prevalence of alcohol dependence versus the average per capita alcohol consumption.
The average cost of alcohol per year is a particularly interesting to me, because it’s obviously not a “necessary” spending category, but at this point in my life, I know so few people who have cut it out of their lives. For many years, beer was the strong favorite of U.S. drinkers, mentioned by close to half as the alcoholic beverage they most often drink. It still leads, but by a thinner, four-percentage-point margin over wine, 35% to 31%, according to the 2022 survey. Across all three grade levels, the shares who said they had drunk alcohol in the 30 days prior to the survey and who reported binge drinking – having five or more drinks in a row during the last two weeks – also declined between 2001 and 2023. Per-capita alcohol consumption appears to be highest in the West and lowest in the South, based on the NIAAA data.
NielsenIQ researchers did find that it was not an “all or nothing” decision regarding non-alcoholic purchases, but rather 78% of those who purchased non-alcoholic beverages also purchased beer, wine, and spirits with an alcoholic beverage content. While trends generally indicate an increased interest and purchasing of premium-priced alcoholic beverages, there is evidence that younger consumers are particularly interested in trading up. “A key driver of US beverage alcohol consumption is flavor,” says Brandy Rand, IWSR’s COO of the Americas.
‘I think people sort of forgot all the problems with alcohol’
At the end of this topic page, we provide a number of potential sources of support and guidance for those concerned about uncontrolled drinking or alcohol dependency. In the chart, we see estimates of the alcohol-attributable fraction (AAF), which is the proportion of deaths that are caused or exacerbated by alcohol (i.e., that proportion that would disappear if alcohol consumption was removed). We see that the proportion of deaths attributed to alcohol consumption is lower in North Africa and the Middle East and much higher in Eastern Europe.
Prevalence of Lifetime Drinking
Alcohol consumption is a known risk factor for a number of health conditions, and potential mortality cases. Alcohol consumption has a causal impact on more than 200 health conditions (diseases and injuries). Here, we see particularly high levels of alcohol abstinence across North Africa and the Middle East. In most countries in this region, the majority of adults have never drunk alcohol.
In the late 1910s, Americans were drinking an average of 2 gallons of alcohol per year. With that cultural shift, researchers have also found that binge drinking and alcohol-related deaths are rising most dramatically among women. Drinking — and binge drinking — among women appears to be one of the causes of rising alcohol statistics. In contrast to the wide variations seen by income and religiosity, alcohol consumption varies only slightly by gender, with 66% of men versus 61% of women saying they ever have occasion to drink. Who knows what the future will bring but for now, consumers are ready to reenter the world with a beverage in hand, which bodes well for the entire alcohol industry. Percentage change in total per capita ethanol consumption by State, United States, 2020–2021.
At the country level, as shown in the chart, this ranges from around 0.5 to 5 percent of the population. Alcohol use disorder, which includes alcohol dependence, is defined in the WHO’s International Classification of Diseases (available here). Data on the share who don’t drink alcohol by gender and age group in the UK is available here. Alcohol consumption – whilst a risk factor for a number of health outcomes – typically has the greatest negative impacts when consumed within heavy sessions. When we look at gender differences, we see that in all countries, men have a higher alcohol consumption than women. Again, the prevalence of drinking across North Africa and the Middle East is notably lower than elsewhere.
