Men should drink two shots or less of distilled spirit in a day, while women should only have one shot or less. Whilst the World Health Organization (WHO) and most national guidelines typically quantify one unit of alcohol as equal to 10 grams of pure alcohol, the metric used as a ‘standard measure’ can vary across countries. The chart shows the age distribution of those dying premature deaths due to alcohol. Globally, the age-standardized death rate has declined from approximately 40 deaths per 100,000 people in the early 1990s to 30 deaths per 100,000 in 2019. Here, we see particularly high levels of alcohol abstinence across North Africa and the Middle East. In most countries in this region, the majority of adults have never drunk alcohol.
According to IWSR, Millennials account for 43% of those who consume these products. It is considered alcoholic for men who take more than fifteen drinks and women who take more than eight drinks per week. Excessive alcohol consumption can lead to various health issues including liver disease, heart problems, mental health disorders, addiction, and an increased risk of accidents and injuries. With 39% of adult consumers preferring beer over wine or spirits, it remains the most popular alcoholic beverage. The average tended to fall around five drinks per week in almost every city — but the cost of a drink can vary hugely between cities (and even between drinks).
A growing segment of consumers is prioritising health and mindfulness over habitual or socially motivated drinking. This shift is particularly pronounced among younger generations, with Millennials and Generation Z showing a preference for moderation and balance over excessive alcohol consumption. Data from the University of Buffalo found that alcohol sales in some US states increased by up to 20-40% during the pandemic. This trend continued post-pandemic, with beer and wine experiencing different sales trajectories from hard alcohol.
Flavors
While buying alcohol and drinking it in your house might cut this cost down, it’s still a ton of money. The average UK household spends £916 on alcohol each year, based on an average household size of 2.4 people—£484 for consumption at home and £432 on drinks out of the house. The average British drinker will spend £38,819 on pints of beer over a lifetime – but Londoners pay more than DOUBLE.
Hop Water
At the end of this topic page, we provide a number of potential sources of support and guidance for those concerned about uncontrolled drinking or alcohol dependency. Alcohol use disorder, which includes alcohol dependence, is defined in the WHO’s International Classification of Diseases (available here). Alcohol use disorder (AUD) refers to the drinking of alcohol that causes mental and physical health problems. As we see, following prohibition, levels of alcohol consumption returned to similar levels as in the pre-prohibition period.
Wine contains around 12% pure alcohol per volume, so that one liter of wine contains 0.12 liters of pure alcohol. Beer contains around 5% of pure alcohol per volume1 so that one liter of beer contains 0.05 liters of pure alcohol. By default, the data for France is shown – in recent decades, here, the share of beer consumption increased to make up around a fifth of alcohol consumption in France.
Have “drink spacers”— make every other drink a non-alcoholic one, such as water, soda or juice. Write down all the wine you have with dinner in a restaurant, drinks ordered with friends after work, the alcohol you consume at home alone and six-packs you bring to parties ― for at least a week and ideally longer. According to online wine retailer Vivino, the cost of a bottle of white wine averages $14.41, while an average bottle of red wine costs $15.66.
Mental health disorders as a risk factor for alcohol dependency
Vodka was the most popular base for spirits RTDs, followed by whiskey and tequila, then rum and gin. Between 2022 and 2026, the no-alcohol category is expected to increase in volume by 25%, while the low-alcohol category will increase by 6%. The following table contains data from two sources with consumption statistics segmented based on age range/generation.
Again, these guidelines don’t mean that someone doesn’t have a problem with their drinking. If you drink two $10 drinks daily, you’ll spend $140 per week or $7280 annually. How much someone spends on alcohol depends on what and how often they drink. The guidelines for heavy drinking include more than four drinks per day for women and five or more drinks per day for men. It’s important to note that just because someone does not meet this criteria, they still may have a problem with their drinking or have AUD (1).
These factors are discussed in detail in the AEDS data reference manual on per capita alcohol consumption (Nephew et al. 2004). Note that the word apparent in this report’s title is pertinent, because the estimates in this report are based on the reported volumes of alcoholic beverages released to the market for sale how much does the average person spend on alcohol per year and not on actual measures of people’s alcohol consumption. The decline in beer sales can be attributed to a general slowing in alcohol consumption, as well as shifting consumer tastes. The growing popularity of ready-to-drink beverages, such as premade cocktails, spirits seltzers, and hard sodas, has contributed to the decline in beer sales.
Consumer spending on alcohol varies across different metropolitan areas in the United States. In 2019, of the 22 major metropolitan areas tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Expenditure Survey, 18 reported an increase in average alcohol spending. The average spending per person ranged from $512 to $1,218 per year, with cities like San Diego and Washington, D.C., among the highest spenders. The spending habits in these cities contrast with those of other cities in the United States. For example, Atlanta, which is at the lower end of the spectrum, has an average annual expenditure of $385 per person.
- While alcohol sales boomed during the pandemic, with United States sales increasing by 20% to 40% in some states, post-pandemic sales have been mixed.
- Heavy episodic drinking is defined as the proportion of adult drinkers who have had at least 60 grams or more of pure alcohol on at least one occasion in the past 30 days.
- When asked if “they would be highly likely to switch to a more sustainable brand” if their favorite alcohol brand “was not using sustainable practices,” 34% of Gen X, 50% of Millennials, and 32% of Gen Z responded that they would do so.
- Though growth has slowed “after a peak in 2020 to 2021…the category is poised for robust gains in the coming years, spearheaded by no-alcohol and persistently strong recruitment levels.” The CAGR for no and low-alcoholic beverages from 2019 to 2023 was 25%.
The Amount Of Money You Spend On Drinking May Blow Your Mind
Consumers are asking for more choice and better flavour, and they’re getting it. Non-alcoholic gin, for example, has proven to be particularly in demand, and cannabis-based drinks like Trip have also taken off. The global non-alcoholic beverages market was valued at $1,223.93 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.4% through 2030. Since 2020, the percentage of U.S. adults aged 21 and older who participated in Dry January has increased, with expectations that participation will grow. Alcohol spending in the United States is influenced by both the price of alcohol and the volume purchased.
- The map shows heavy drinkers – those who had an episode of heavy drinking in the previous 30 days – as a share of total drinkers (i.e., those who have drunk less than one alcoholic drink in the last 12 months are excluded).
- This shift in brand preferences further contributed to the decline in beer’s market share.
- Vodka maintained its top-selling position in the spirits category, while wine sales have remained relatively stable since 2000, with a market share of around 16%.
Rethinking Drinking
Additionally, the rise of non-alcoholic beverages, including non-alcoholic beer, wine, and cocktail alternatives, has also contributed to the shift. From March to September 2020, alcohol sales totalled $41.9 billion, a 20% increase over the same period the previous year. However, post-pandemic sales have been mixed, with only a 1.1% increase in total retail spending on alcoholic beverages from 2022 to 2023. Consumer tastes and preferences have evolved, and a notable backlash against a Bud Light advertising campaign featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney pushed Modelo into the top spot among American consumers for the first time.
How Much Does the Average American Drink In A Day?
More recently, for the 52 weeks ending September 2023, flavored whiskey sales grew by 1.9%. Looking at the costs over a lifetime reveals some pretty staggering numbers. On average, Australian households spend $32 on alcoholic beverages per week and this has remained stable between 2009–10 and 2015–16 (ABS 2017) (Table S2. 4). A century ago, some countries had much higher levels of alcohol consumption. In France in the 1920s, the average was 22.1 liters of pure alcohol per person per year.