Camilla Jessen
Why more people are choosing not to drink.
Attitudes toward drinking are shifting in ways that would have seemed unlikely just a generation ago. What was once a social default is increasingly becoming a conscious choice people opt out of.
New data suggests the change is not a passing trend, but part of a broader cultural reset.
Changing habits
Only a few years ago, choosing not to drink alcohol often came with assumptions. Many people believed abstainers were religious, recovering from addiction or pregnant. That mindset is now steadily fading.
An estimated 17.5 million people are taking part in Dry January, and evidence suggests many will continue avoiding alcohol well beyond the month.
A 2025 Gallup poll found that just 54 percent of US adults now consider themselves drinkers, the lowest level recorded in nearly 90 years.
That figure fell from 58 percent in 2024 and 62 percent in 2023, according to Gallup.
Global pattern
Although the Gallup data focuses on the United States, similar trends are visible elsewhere. Alcohol Change UK reports that around one in five adults in the UK now do not drink alcohol at all.
In Australia, researchers at Flinders University found that people born between 1997 and 2012, often referred to as Gen Z, were 17 times more likely to avoid alcohol than Baby Boomers born between 1946 and 1965.
Even when younger adults do drink, researchers say consumption levels are far lower than in previous generations.
Drinking less
The shift is also evident in traditionally heavy-drinking cultures.
According to research firm IWSR, the average number of drinks per person in the UK fell to 10.2 in 2024, down from 14 at the start of the millennium.
Marten Lodewijks, president of IWSR, told the Financial Times: “The population is ageing and older consumers physiologically can’t drink as much.”
“There are also elements of health consciousness, and the cost of living is up, so people just can’t afford to ‘drink out’ as much,” he added.
Sources: Gallup, Alcohol Change UK, Flinders University, IWSR, Financial Times, Drinkaware
