Alcohol

Emma Camp | 8.19.2025 11:00 AM

Americans may be drinking less than ever before. A recent poll from Gallup found that a record-low share of Americans say they drink alcohol, the lowest in nearly 90 years of polling. Declines in drinking since 2023 in particular have been highest among women, Republicans, and both low-income and high-income Americans.

And those who are drinking are drinking less—the average drinking respondent had only 2.8 drinks in the last seven days, down from 4.5 a decade ago, and the lowest number in 30 years.

For the first time, researchers also found that a majority of Americans believed that moderate drinking is bad for one's health. In 2018, just 28 percent of respondents reported that one or two drinks a day is unhealthy, but in 2025, 53 percent did.

This perception matches with an increase in antidrinking messaging from public health authorities. Earlier this year, then–Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called for putting a cancer warning on alcoholic drink containers.

At first, this trend seems like an obviously good thing. Alcoholism is a destructive disease, and reducing tragic deaths from alcoholism, drunk driving, or alcohol-related cancer is certainly good news. And it is probably true that moderate drinking is bad for your health.

But the thing is, the decline in overall drinking hasn't actually led to a

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