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. 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.

• Alaska has the nation’s second-highest number of alcohol-related deaths per capita.
• The chart shows direct death rates (not including suicide deaths) from alcohol use disorders across the world.
• While this national decline is encouraging news, overdose remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44, highlighting the importance of sustained efforts to ensure this progress continues.
• However, HHS has set a priority goal of reducing emergency department visits for acute alcohol use, mental health conditions, suicide attempts, and drug overdoses by 10% by 2025.
• Differences between percentages were evaluated using two-sided significance tests at the 0.05 level.
• Young adults report the highest rates of binge drinking and heavy alcohol use.
• Canada announced a series of retaliatory measures on Wednesday morning that are set to take effect on Thursday, which includes 25% tariffs on $29.8 CAD billion ($20.1 billion) imports of US goods such as steel and aluminum products.

Prevalence of Past-Year Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD)

This surveillance report on 1977–2021 apparent per capita alcohol consumption in the United States is the 37th in a series of consumption reports produced annually by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). In May of 2024, SHADAC changed the way we measure risky drinking behaviors, pivoting from measuring only “binge drinking” to measuring “excessive alcohol consumption”, which encompasses both binge drinking and heavy drinking. Below, you can see the definitions between these drinking terms are similar, but the ‘excessive alcohol consumption’ definition is the most comprehensive. From pre-pandemic to during the pandemic, heavy alcohol use among Americans rose nearly 20%. Excessive alcohol consumption has been linked to adverse health outcomes, such as increased risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke, and mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression.

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Young adults report the highest rates of binge drinking and heavy alcohol use. The alcohol consumption rate Sobriety percentages change based on ethnicity once drinking has been established in an individual, with weekly and daily heavy drinking numbers increasing for certain groups. Many factors may have contributed to these increases in alcohol-related deaths.

• This includes absenteeism, reduced work performance, and premature mortality due to alcohol-related conditions.
• The charts show global consumption of beer, first in terms of beer as a share of total alcohol consumption, and then the estimated average consumption per person.
• Adults who regularly felt depressed or anxious were more likely to engage in heavy drinking than those without these feelings.
• The Recovery Village aims to improve the quality of life for people struggling with substance use or mental health disorder with fact-based content about the nature of behavioral health conditions, treatment options and their related outcomes.

Facts and Statistics about Alcohol Abuse in the United States

With aluminum, other top foreign sources shipping to the US include China, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates. With steel, Brazil, Mexico and South Korea are top sources, according to US trade data from last year. China is the only country whose aluminum and steel will be tariffed at rates higher than 25%.

We surveyed 5,123 U.S. adults from Feb. 24 to March 2, 2025, including 3,494 who are ages 21 and older and drink alcohol. Many individuals have their first alcoholic beverage before entering high school and can be unaware of the dangers of excessive alcohol use. Early exposure to alcohol can have damaging and long-lasting effects on brain development.

Midwest states, such as Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, have had historically higher rates of binge or heavy drinking compared to other states. From 2022 to 2023, though, nearly all midwestern states, except South Dakota, saw a decrease in their reported excessive alcohol consumption. In 2023, the United States experienced its lowest rate of excessive alcohol consumption in the alcoholism statistics last five years. 16.4% of U.S. adults reported binge and/or heavy drinking in 2023, significantly lower than the 2022 rate of 17.9%.