(Washington) Americans drink less and less alcohol and now consider a majority of them than their consumption, even moderate, is bad for health, a first, reveals a survey.
These figures, reported this week by the Gallup survey Institute, show a change in attitude of Americans vis-à-vis alcoholic drinks, the number of consumers reported in 2025 being historically low.
Gallup has carried out this opinion survey since 1939, a few years after the end of prohibition, the period during which the United States prohibited the production and sale of alcohol.
In 2025, 54 % of Americans interviewed said they were drinking alcohol, whether occasionally or regularly. It was 58 % in 1939 and at least 60 % between 1997 and 2023, underlines the Survey Institute.
And those who said they were drinking drunk less, the average number of glasses consumed during the seven days preceding the interview being 2.8 glasses, the lowest figure recorded by Gallup since 1996 “.
But it is above all the perception of the effects of alcohol on health, that the Institute began to follow from 2001, which has evolved the most.
The number of people considering moderate consumption – from one or two glasses per day – as badly went from 27 % in the early 2000s to 53 % in 2025.
This change in perception occurs while awareness of risks linked to alcohol consumption, even low, has intensified, notes the institute.
If it has improved, it remains insufficient to the taste of the American health authorities. In January, the United States chief doctor had called for the implementation of new prevention and awareness measures on the carcinogenicity of alcohol, even in low doses.
“The majority of Americans are not aware of this risk” of cancer, he then deplored.
