This is given as the share of adults aged 15 years and older who have drunk alcohol within the previous year. In 2023, vodka accounted for 27% of total spirits volume, and flavored vodkas accounted for 21% of all vodkas sold. While, in general, the alcoholic beverage industry is energy-intensive, requiring significant amounts of inputs, specific segments and manufacturers are focusing on becoming more sustainable.
Prevalence of Lifetime Drinking
When asked about marijuana consumption, 52% of participants aged 18-to-34-years responded that marijuana was “not too harmful/not at all harmful.” N.C. Solutions reported in January 2024 that, on average, consumers were “having three drinks per week, down from four per week in 2023.” Gallup also reported that alcoholic beverage drinkers consumed “on average…four drinks in the past week,” in July 2023. Several industry sources mention consumer willingness to spend more on alcohol and are trading up and purchasing premium beverages. The percent change in total volume for certain beverages and the percent change in premium-and-above alcohol volume in 2022, as reported by IWSR are listed below. This surveillance report on apparent per capita alcohol consumption in the United States is the 37th in a series of reports that examine alcohol consumption trends on a national, State, and regional basis.
Alcohol-related deaths by age
Pertaining to product introductions, the NielsenIQ BASES report revealed that “15x the number of non-alcohol launches were tested in 2021 compared to 2020.” Additionally, over the 52-week period ending in late October 2021, non-alcoholic beverage sales increased by 33%, and low-alcoholic beverage sales increased by 8%. Online sales of LNA beverages increased by 315% between October 2020 and 2021, while “alcoholic options” only increased by 26%. For non-alcoholic beverages, sales for the 52 weeks ending October 7, 2023, compared to the year before, increased by 32%, while total alcoholic beverage sales for the same period only increased by 1%.
Alcoholic Beverage Consumption Statistics and Trends 2022
Consumers are looking for a beverage made with natural ingredients and coloring for the overall beverage category. Drinking is more common among younger than older adults, but this is evident only when the analysis is limited to those of legal drinking age. Whereas 60% of adults aged 18 to 29 say they drink, the rate is 71% among those aged 21 to 29. That matches the percentage of 30- to 49-year-olds who drink (70%), while it exceeds the rate among those 50 to 64 (64%) and 65 and older (54%). Readers familiar with survey reports and other scientific literature are accustomed to the presentation of significance tests, or confidence intervals, on any data comparisons or trends.
Between 2019 and 2022, while overall growth in the number of U.S. wineries grew 10% and the number of Californian wineries grew 7%, those in the Eastern U.S. (27 states east of the Mississippi River) grew 13%, accounting for 28% of the total wineries in the U.S. Of the states in the region, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia experienced the greatest increase in the number of wineries with growth rates of 14, 12, and 10%, respectively (Adams, 2022). For cocktails made with tequila, 39% of the 3,110 alcohol consumers aged 21 and older prefer sweet, and 23% prefer spicy concoctions. Premium-priced RTDs also garner attention, especially for spirit-based hard seltzers “which use named spirits…and premium ingredients.” There has been an introduction of USDA-certified organic RTDs, others made with all-natural ingredients and world-class spirits, and “enhancing products with functional ingredients.” While Gallup did not report consumption rates based on generation (e.g., Baby Boomer, Gen X), those who are in the 18 to 34 age category would include the “younger” portion of the Millennial generation and the What Are Club Drugs Effects, Types, List of Street Names adult proportion of Gen Z (born between 1997 and 2012).
He is also the host of the Booze Newz podcast on the WGN platform, where he talks to some of the biggest and most interesting names in alcohol. Another indicator that Americans are looking for flavor was the tremendous growth of agave-based spirits finishing up +15.9% and Cognac/Armagnac logging volume gains of +20.1%. To make the trend data more precise, AEDS revises data published in previous reports when the Census Bureau revises its population estimates. This report updates the 2010–2020 population estimates using revised estimates of the July 1 resident population from the Vintage 2020 and 2021 postcensal series (Single-race Population Estimates 2022). Many of the risk factors for alcohol dependency are similar to those of overall drug use disorders (including illicit drug disorders). Further discussion on these risk factors can be found on our topic page on drug use.
- Per-capita alcohol consumption peaked in the early 1980s at 3.28 gallons, or almost 700 drinks.
- Vodka was the most popular base for spirits RTDs, followed by whiskey and tequila, then rum and gin.
- The growth rate for all other varietals reported decreased between 0.9% (Sauvignon blanc) and 16.9% (Sangria).
- There is no clear evidence that high overall consumption (particularly in moderate quantities) is connected to the onset of alcohol dependency.
- Decanter’s January 2022 “Top wine Trends for 2022” listed the average consumer’s “inability…to afford” wines from Burgundy, Bordeaux, and Champagne.
This shows the expenditure on alcohol in the United States, differentiated by where the alcohol has been purchased and consumed. Data on alcohol expenditure is typically limited to North America, Europe, and Oceania. Learn more about the financial impact of alcohol misuse in the United States.
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. Their prominence is driven by consumers’ continual search for new and exciting products. “When we ask RTD consumers what factors influence their beverage alcohol purchase decision, the #1 response we hear is ‘flavor’,” says Rand. “People are eager to try new brands, especially those that offer a unique or interesting flavor. While this is particularly prevalent with RTDs, we’re also seeing significant growth in flavors in beer and spirits as well.” 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.
AEDS uses an estimate of average ethanol content in the alcoholic beverages to convert the gallons of sold or shipped beer, wine, and spirits into gallons of ethanol (pure alcohol) before calculating per capita consumption estimates. For data years 1977–2021, the alcohol by volume (ABV; i.e., proportion of ethanol for each beverage type) values are 0.045 for beer, 0.129 for wine, and 0.411 for spirits (Doernberg and Stinson 1985). Following the ethanol conversions, gallons of ethanol for beer, wine, and spirits are summed to gallons of ethanol for all beverages.
Data on the share who don’t drink alcohol by gender and age group in the UK is available here. 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. Typically, 5 to 10 percent of adults across these regions drank in the preceding year, and in a number of countries, this was below 5 percent. Explore how many people ages 18 to 25 engage in alcohol misuse in the United States and the impact it has.