Something has been shifting quietly in American kitchens, bars, and grocery aisles, and the numbers finally back up what many people have noticed anecdotally. Gallup’s Consumption Habits survey, fielded in July 2025, found that only 54% of U.S. adults said they drank alcohol, the lowest share the organization has recorded since it began tracking the behavior in 1939. That figure had already fallen from 62% in 2023 and 58% in 2024, and the trend did not stop there. Data collected through June 2026 by YouGov showed that 36% of American adults who still drink alcohol said they were consuming less than they had been a year earlier, while only 5% said they were drinking more. Separately, industry tracking from the first quarter of 2026 showed the pullback translating directly into weaker sales, with core spirits revenue down 5.7% and wine revenue down 5.3% over the trailing twelve months, evidence that 2025’s shift in attitude carried straight through into 2026’s numbers on store shelves
The shift is not limited to people quitting outright. Research from YouGov found that 36% of American adults over the age of 21 who still drink alcohol say they are consuming less than they were a year earlier, while only 5% report drinking more. When asked why, respondents most often pointed to a simple loss of interest in drinking, followed by health concerns and the rising cost of alcohol itself. Separately, Ipsos found that roughly 40% of American adults made a New Year’s resolution for 2026 specifically built around drinking less, suggesting this is a deliberate choice rather than a passive trend.
Attitudes about health appear to be doing much of the work here. Gallup also found that 53% of Americans now believe moderate drinking, defined as one or two drinks a day, is bad for their health. That belief has climbed steadily from just 28% in 2018, marking the first time a majority of the country has held that view (Gallup).
For the beverage alcohol industry, this shift in behavior has shown up directly in sales figures. Data from the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America’s SipSource report showed that core spirits revenue fell 5.7% and wine revenue fell 5.3% over a twelve month period ending in the first quarter of 2026, continuing a trend that has persisted for several years. Wine has taken a particularly hard hit. According to Silicon Valley Bank’s 2026 State of the U.S. Wine Report, American wineries lost $1.2 billion in sales in a single year, dropping from $75.5 billion in 2024 to $74.3 billion in 2025, marking a sixth consecutive year of decline for the category (SVB).
That said, the industry itself describes this as a period of stabilizing decline rather than a collapse. Consumers are not necessarily abandoning alcohol altogether so much as buying less often and trading down to lower priced options, and the pace of decline has begun to level off after several sharper years.
Meanwhile, a different part of the beverage world is expanding to meet the moment. The global non-alcoholic beverage market was valued at approximately $1.4 trillion in 2025 and is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 8.0% through 2033, eventually reaching $2.6 trillion (Grand View Research). Functional beverages, built around ingredients like electrolytes, probiotics, and adaptogens, represent the fastest growing part of that category. According to Grand View Research, the global functional drinks market alone was valued at $164.7 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach $178.9 billion in 2026, on pace to hit $315.9 billion by 2033 at a compound annual growth rate of 8.5%, with energy drinks and shots making up more than half of that revenue and North America accounting for over a third of global demand. Even legacy players are taking notice. The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) entered the prebiotic soda space in February 2025 with the launch of its Simply Pop brand, a direct response to shifting consumer demand.
Cannabis and THC infused beverages have also entered the conversation as a genuine substitute for alcohol in social settings, particularly among younger drinkers who are more comfortable mixing the two categories or replacing one with the other entirely. Market research firm Fortune Business Insights projects the global cannabis beverage market will reach $6.15 billion by 2026, and trade publication MJBizDaily has tracked even faster growth at the state level, with cannabis beverage sales climbing between 79% and 112% year over year in markets like Michigan, Illinois, and Ohio. Separate consumer research compiled by WifiTalents found that roughly 35% of cannabis beverage drinkers describe the category as a direct substitute for alcohol, and that Generation Z and Millennials together make up about 60% of the total cannabis beverage consumer base, underscoring how closely this shift is tied to generational habits rather than a passing trend.
What all of this adds up to is a beverage industry being rebuilt from the inside, not a country giving up on having a drink. The companies that treat this shift as a temporary dip will spend the next few years chasing numbers that are not coming back, while the ones already building in the functional, cannabis, and alcohol-free aisles are simply meeting customers where they have already moved. The winners in this next chapter will not be the brands that make the best cocktail. They will be the ones that figure out what people are actually reaching for when they decide not to have one.
