Alcoholic Beverage Consumption in the U.S.: Patterns and Trends
Alcohol consumption in the United States has declined over time. The
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports that the per
capita consumption of alcohol by Americans age 14 and older has dropped
from 2.76 gallons in 1980 to 2.34 in 2013 (the latest date for which
statistics are available). 1
Race and Ethnicity
Alcohol consumption also varies by race and ethnicity. The four
major minorities in the US are African Americans; Hispanics; Asian
Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs); and American Indians/Alaska
Natives (AI/ANs). Both current drinking (defined as consumption
of 12 or more drinks in the past year) and heavy drinking are most
prevalent among AI/ANs and Native Hawaiians and lowest among AAPIs.
3
It’s been observed 4
that
Heterogeneity in drinking patterns is also found among different
nationalities within specific ethnic groups. 5
Blacks whose ancestry is Caribbean consume less alcohol compared
with Blacks in general. Hispanic Americans of Central American,
South American, or Caribbean ancestry consume less alcohol than
Hispanics in general (including Hispanics of Mexican or Mexican
American ancestries). Among Asians, Japanese Americans consume
more alcohol than Asian Americans of other national origins. 6
Heterogeneity in drinking patterns also varies by place of birth.
For example, Asians and Pacific Islanders born in the United States
have lower alcohol abstention rates than those born elsewhere.
7
Differences in alcohol consumption are also found among Native
Americans. Those living on reservations drink less frequently
than Native Americans living in off–reservation towns, but
reservation dwellers may engage in binge drinking (drinking five
or more drinks per day) more frequently and consume more alcohol
per occasion when they do drink. 8
Among adolescent minorities studied nationwide, African Americans
show the lowest prevalence of lifetime, annual, monthly, daily,
and heavy drinking, as well as the lowest frequency of being drunk.
Hispanic adolescents have the highest annual prevalence of heavy
drinking, followed by Whites. 9
Among all age and ethnic groups, men are more likely to drink than
are women, and to consume large quantities in a single sitting.
10
This is a pattern found throughout the world. 11
Proportion
Abstainers in Percent12
|
White |
African American |
Hispanic |
Men |
26 |
36 |
35 |
Women |
39 |
55 |
57 |
Status and Role
Married couples with adult children and couples with no children
spend about 30% more than the national household average. Sixty-one
percent of all money spent on alcoholic beverages was for alcohol
consumed in the home. 13
Abstention in the US is inversely associated with social status.
The lower the social class, the higher the abstention. 14

Similarly, the more educated people are in the US, the more likely
they are to drink. 15

Age
Surveys of different age groups in the community suggest that the
elderly, generally defined as persons older than 65, consume less
alcohol than younger persons. 16
Federal surveys demonstrate a decline in alcohol consumption by young persons over a period of decades. For example, the proportion people age 12 through 17 who have consumed any alcohol during the previous month has dropped from 50% in 1979 to 14.7% in 2009, according to the federal government's annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health. 17
The proportion of high school seniors who have ever consumed alcohol
is also declining. 18

The proportion of high school seniors who have consumed alcohol
within previous year is down. 19

The proportion of high school seniors who have consumed alcohol
within previous 30 days is down. 20

The proportion of high school seniors who have recently consumed
alcohol daily is down. 21

The proportion of high school seniors who have consumed 5 or more
drinks on an occasion within previous two weeks is down. 22

The proportion of college freshmen who drink alcohol continues to drop. Between 2006 and 1010, the proportion of drinkers dropped from 62% down to 38%. That is a new historic low.
23
About half (49%) of American college students don’t drink
alcohol on a regular basis, 31% consume five or fewer drinks per
week, and only 12% (a little over one in ten) consume ten or more
drinks per week. 24
The average (median) number of drinks consumed by college students
is 1.5 per week, according to the Harvard School of Public Health
College Alcohol Study’s survey of 17,592 students at 140 colleges
and universities across the United States. 25
The continuing Harvard Studies have documented an increase in the
proportion of college student abstainers and an decrease in the
average number of drinks consumed by those who do drink. 26
About two of every three (65.9%) American undergraduates is age
21 or older and seven of every ten (70.5%) US college and university
students (undergraduate and graduate) are age 21 or older, according
to the National Center for Educational Statistics. 27
International Comparisons
The ten countries with the highest per capita consumption of alcohol
are listed below.
Highest Per Capita Consumption
Rank |
Country |
1 |
Luxembourg |
2 |
Ireland |
3 |
France |
4 |
Hungary |
5 |
Denmark |
6 |
Czech Republic |
7 |
Spain |
8 |
Portugal |
9 |
Austria |
10 |
Switzerland |
Per capita alcohol consumption in the US has dropped 23% since 1990 and it ranks 22 on the list.28
Given this low international ranking, its not surprising that abstention
is much more common in the US than in any other Western country.
29

Drinking attitudes and behaviors in the United States reflect its
strong temperance past. National Prohibition of alcohol existed
for nearly 14 years between early 1902 and late 1933. Upon repeal
of Prohibition, however, a large number of states continued their
own state prohibition and others permitted “local option”
regarding prohibition. There are still hundreds of “dry”
counties and municipalities in which the sale of alcoholic beverages
is prohibited. There are also millions of Americans who currently
support the concept of prohibition. 30
References
- 1. Haughwout, S., et al. Apparent Per Capita Alcohol Consumption. Washington,
DC: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2015.
- 2. Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs. Alcohol Consumption, Litres per Population Aged 15+. OECD Health Data. Paris, France: Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, 2009.
- 3. National Institute
on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Alcohol Alert: Alcohol and
Minorities No. 55 January 2002. [Heavy drinking is defined
as five drinks on a single day at least once a month for adults
and five drinks in a row at least once during the previous two weeks
for adolescents.]
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Caetano, Raul. Alcohol use and related problems among ethnic minorities
in the U.S. . National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism,
December, 2003 (http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh27-1/87-94.htm)
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- 23.Weise, Elizabeth. Polls: young non-drinkers up in down economy. USA Today, February 7, 2011.
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for Alcohol Policies (ICAP). Who are the Abstainers? Washington,
DC: International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP Reports #8),
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- 30. Hanson, David J.
Preventing Alcohol Abuse: Alcohol, Culture, and Control.
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