'Dry January' helped drive drinking rates to 96-year low - Harvard Gazette

"A recent survey showed that a record low of 54 percent of U.S. adults say they drink, the lowest seen since the Gallup Poll's initial 1939 look at the nation's imbibing habits. The reading is the latest in a multiyear trend, which has seen a decline from 67 percent in 2022 to 62 percent in 2023, 58 percent in 2024, to today's 54 percent."

"A significant spike in drinking caused alarm among public health officials and researchers, who saw a reversal of hard-won gains and predicted long-term harms and a spike in alcohol-related deaths - due to cancer, liver failure, and other alcohol-related ills - in the years ahead. Silveri gives the so-called sober-curious movement a lot of credit for ushering in change. The message of re-evaluating one's relationship with alcohol gained steam after the pandemic, spread widely through social media, and seemed to touch a collective nerve."

U.S. adult drinking has fallen sharply to a record low, with 54 percent reporting they drink and only 24 percent reporting alcohol use in the last 24 hours. The decline represents a multiyear trend from 67 percent in 2022 to 62 percent in 2023, 58 percent in 2024, and 54 percent currently. Public health experts link the shift to the sober-curious movement, social-media-driven campaigns like Dry January and Sober October, advances in wearable technology, and evolving drug research. The pandemic initially produced a spike in consumption and raised concerns about long-term alcohol-related harms, but recent behaviors suggest measurable reductions.

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