Fewer Americans say they are drinking alcohol: Gallup

Fewer Americans say they are consuming alcohol, according to a new poll. 

The Gallup survey published Thursday found just 60 percent of U.S. adults said they drink alcoholic beverages, down from 65 percent in 2019. 

Americans’ average weekly number of drinks also dropped from four to 3.6, Gallup found. Beer was the most-often consumed alcoholic beverage in America, with 39 percent of respondents saying they drink it, according to the polling firm. Just more than 3 in 10 — 31 percent — said they drink wine and 27 percent said they drink liquor.

By comparison, 67 percent of respondents said in 2010 that they drink, the highest percentage Gallup has recorded.  

Since the late 1990s, at least 60 percent of U.S. adults have consistently reported alcohol use, Gallup reported, noting it “did not measure this in 2020 when the nationwide lockdowns brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.” 

In the new poll, 18 percent of respondents told the pollster they sometimes drink more than they should, and men are more than twice as likely as women to say they drink beer most often. 

Overall, 63 percent of male respondents said they drink compared to 57 percent of women in the poll.

The Gallup poll was conducted July 6-21 among 1,007 adults. It has a margin of error of 4 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.