Post-pandemic Drinking Declines, yet Some Age Groups Persist
WHO:
NBC News - Dr. Brian P. Lee, a liver transplant doctor at Keck Medicine of USC in Los Angeles, is the senior study author.
NBC News - Dr. Michael Siegel, a professor of public health and community medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, commented on the health effects of alcohol consumption.
NBC News - Priscilla Martinez-Matyszczyk, deputy scientific director of the Alcohol Research Group, provided insights on alcohol consumption trends.
WHAT:
NBC News - Heavy drinking among adults ages 50 to 64 has increased by about 2% from 2022 to 2024, totaling a more than one-third increase since 2018, which translates to approximately one million people drinking heavily in that age group alone.
NBC News - The study published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine indicates that alcohol consumption has been steadily on the rise since around the year 2000 after a decline in the late 1980s and ’90s, with heavy alcohol use peaking in 2020 when it rose by 20% compared to 2018.
IJR - U.S. past-year drinking fell about 2 points from 2022-2024, marking the first drop since the pandemic.
NBC News - Heavy drinking among adults ages 50 to 64 rose more than 36 points since 2018.
NBC News - The decline in drinking rates from 2022 to 2024 was approximately 1%.
NBC News - Heavy drinking declined by 9% among women and 7.7% among men from 2022 to 2024.
NBC News - Gen Z adults reported a decrease in drinking of more than 5% from 2022 to 2024.
NBC News - Millennials reported a 17% decline in heavy drinking from 2022 to 2024.
NBC News - Heavy drinking among adults ages 50 to 64 increased by about 2% from 2022 to 2024, totaling a more than one-third increase since 2018.
NBC News - Alcohol-related liver disease is now the leading cause of liver transplants in the U.S.
NBC News - Yearly cancer deaths linked to alcohol have doubled over the last three decades.
WHERE:
NBC News - The study used data from the National Health Interview Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
WHEN:
NBC News - The study analyzed survey results from the years 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2024.
WHY:
NBC News - Dr. Brian P. Lee stated, “The risk with alcohol isn’t the same across all age groups, and this middle-aged group is exactly the group we are worried about.”
NBC News - The increase in heavy drinking among adults ages 50 to 64 is concerning due to the health risks associated with alcohol consumption, particularly as individuals in this age group may have been drinking for years.
HOW:
NBC News - The survey defined heavy drinking as either five or more drinks per day or 15 or more per week for men, and four drinks per day or eight drinks per week for women.
(UPDATED September 22, 2026 22:02 UTC)
A recent study published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine reveals that heavy drinking among adults aged 50 to 64 has increased by about 2% from 2022 to 2024, marking a more than one-third rise since 2018, which means roughly one million people in that age group are now drinking heavily. Alcohol consumption has been on the upswing since around the year 2000, following a decline in the late 1980s and ’90s, with heavy use peaking in 2020 when it rose by 20% compared to 2018. Dr. Brian P. Lee emphasized that the risks associated with alcohol vary across age groups, highlighting that this middle-aged demographic is particularly concerning.
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(UPDATED September 22, 2026 10:58 UTC)
A recent study led by Dr. Brian P. Lee, a liver transplant doctor at Keck Medicine of USC, reveals that U.S. past-year drinking has fallen by about 2 points from 2022 to 2024, marking the first decline since the pandemic, while heavy drinking among adults ages 50 to 64 has surged by more than 36 points since 2018. The study, which utilized data from the National Health Interview Survey by the CDC, found that heavy drinking decreased by 9% among women and 7.7% among men during the same period, with Millennials reporting a notable 17% decline. However, alcohol-related liver disease has become the leading cause of liver transplants in the U.S., and yearly cancer deaths linked to alcohol have doubled over the last three decades, highlighting significant health risks associated with alcohol consumption.