FILE PHOTO: A man sits at a bar in LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York City, U.S., July 30, 2025. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper/File Photo

By Emma Rumney

LONDON, Dec 4 - Americans say they are drinking less alcohol than ever before. But new data shows the number of drinks U.S. adults have per week has in fact not changed by much for decades.

The data from drinks market research firm IWSR, shared exclusively with Reuters, shows that the number of weekly drinks per U.S. adult has hovered between 10 and 12 since 1975. While it is currently at its lowest since 1995, this reflects a decline of around 1.1 servings per person per week from a recent peak of 11.5 drinks in 2021.

Surveys indicating a historic shift away from drinking, steep declines in alcohol sales, and falling drinking rates among young people have all fed a debate in recent years about whether drinking might be in long-term decline, especially in the key U.S. market. Possible drivers include a trend towards healthier lifestyles.

Drinks makers argue falling sales volumes are more to do with the economy than consumers turning against alcohol.

IWSR said its data could not rule out fundamental behaviour change as a factor, but did counter the widespread narrative that there has already been a historic shift away from drinking.

"We're not at any sort of historic low," Marten Lodewijks, president of IWSR told Reuters, adding it will likely take years to determine whether the current decline is due to economic cycles or a long-term shift in consumer habits.

IWSR, at least, thinks short-term conditions including huge pressures on consumer finances from high interest rates and inflation or political turbulence are bigger drivers.

Its data also shows that steep declines in volumes of alcohol sold are less dramatic when converted to weekly drinks per person, which better accounts for shifts away from high-volume drinks like beer to lower-volume spirits, Lodewijks said.

He also pointed to separate IWSR survey data that showed increases in the number of Gen Z respondents that reported recent drinking between 2023 and 2025. This indicated the cohort did not shun alcohol more than older generations despite widely being seen as leading the shift away from drinking.

Other surveys focused on drinking among younger consumers have registered declines. But analysts including Laurence Whyatt at Barclays say other data, including Gen Z spending on alcohol as a portion of income, supports the idea that economic pressures play a big role in how much they drink.

(Reporting by Emma Rumney; Editing by Toby Chopra)