Alcohol consumption rates among adults in the United States are at their lowest level on record in 2025, according to a survey by analytics and advisory company Gallup on Wednesday, August 13. Notably, most Americans for the first time consider even moderate drinking harmful, Reuters reported.
Washington-based Gallup‘s latest Consumption Habits survey found that about 54% of Americans reported drinking alcohol this year, compared to 58% in 2024 and 62% in 2023, suggesting that awareness is growing among people.
According to Reuters, Gallup has been collecting data for nearly 90 years, with this figure falling below the previous record of 55% in 1958.
Alcohol sales have been falling across the United States since the pandemic, as inflation and interest rates put a strain on consumers’ pockets. According to Reuters, drinkers are now under increased scrutiny from public health authorities, who say even moderate drinking is linked to at least seven types of cancer.
According to Gallup data, a majority of Americans (53%) say moderate drinking is bad for their health, up from 45% last year.
24% of drinkers in the United States said they had drunk alcohol the previous day, and 40% said they had drunk alcohol more than a week after their last day—the highest since 2000.
According to the report, drinkers’ average consumption in the past 7 days had fallen to 2.8 drinks, the lowest since 1996 and down from 3.8 a year earlier, well below the peak of 5.1 drinks per week in 2003.
On the other hand, Lydia Saad, Gallup‘s director of social research, gave another reason for the decline in alcohol consumption, saying, “People are shifting to other mood-altering substances—in particular, recreational marijuana, which is now legal in about half of US states.”
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Reuters’s reporting contributed to this article.