A record-low 54% of U.S. Americans now use alcohol, matching 2025’s historic low and the smallest share since Gallup began tracking in 1939. More people recognise what science has long shown: alcohol harms health. Yet even as alcohol use keeps declining and 178,000 lives are lost to alcohol harm each year in the U.S. alone, Big Alcohol is doubling down on marketing.
These figures show an important tension. While many U.S. Americans are moving toward lower and no alcohol use, major alcohol companies continue to invest heavily in efforts to maintain or increase alcohol sales and consumption.
