WASHINGTON — Alcohol use among American adults has declined for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. But researchers are saying the encouraging trend is being complicated by a sharp and continuing rise in drinking among adults in their 50s and early 60s. The study found that any alcohol use among U.S. adults fell by nearly 2% from 2022 to 2024, while heavy drinking declined by more than 8% over the same period. Despite the drop, alcohol use remains higher than it was before the pandemic began in 2020.
The research was led by Dr. Brian P. Lee, a hepatologist and liver transplant specialist at Keck Medicine of USC in Los Angeles, and was based on National Health Interview Survey data from more than 114,000 U.S. adults between 2018 and 2024.
“Seeing this first decline gives you something to hope for as a doctor, but you have to be appropriately cautious, too, because one change doesn’t necessarily mean a sustained trend,” Lee told CNN. The decline was uneven across generations.
Gen Z adults, ages 18 to 29, saw the largest drop in any alcohol use, down more than 5%. Millennials, ages 30 to 49, saw the steepest decline in heavy drinking, with a 17% drop from 2022 to 2024.
Researchers didn’t examine the specific causes but noted the sober-curious movement, growing awareness of alcohol’s health risks and the substitution of cannabis for alcohol as possible factors.
The group that concerns researchers most is adults ages 50 to 64, which reflects mostly Generation X and the youngest Baby Boomers. Heavy drinking in this group increased by more than 36% from 2018 to 2024, and any drinking rose by nearly 4%.
Lee said this is especially worrying because older adults face greater risk of alcohol-related harm from the same amount of alcohol as younger people. The average age of a cirrhosis diagnosis is in the 50s, and alcohol is now the leading cause of liver transplants in the United States.
“The encouraging national decline should not overshadow the fact that some groups continue to be at increased risk,” Lee said in a Keck Medicine article. “Heavy drinking among ages 50 to 64 is up by more than a third since 2018.”
The study’s authors said alcohol prevention efforts need to be more tailored to specific age groups rather than treating the population as a whole.
“These findings suggest that alcohol prevention efforts need to become more tailored to specific populations,” Lee said. “Different groups are showing different patterns of alcohol use, and understanding those differences could help us develop more effective prevention and treatment strategies.”
For people concerned about alcohol-related disease, Lee recommended talking to a doctor about liver screening tests as a way to stay ahead of potential issues.
