One in four adults in England do not drink alcohol, with increasing numbers of men and young people choosing sobriety, according to a survey. The Health Survey for England, based on a questionnaire of 10,000 people, found that 24% of adults had not drunk alcohol in 2024, up from 19% in 2022.
Women were slightly more likely to abstain, with 26% not drinking compared to 22% of men. Regional variations were evident, with the West Midlands (27%) and London (26%) having the highest proportions of non-drinkers, while north-east England had only 17%.
Jem Roberts, head of external affairs at the Institute of Alcohol Studies, called the decline encouraging but warned against complacency. “Millions of people are still drinking at levels that significantly increase their risk of serious harm,” he said, noting record high alcohol deaths in recent years. Roberts advocated for population-level measures such as minimum unit pricing and marketing bans.
The survey also revealed that among drinkers, 27% of men and 15% of women consumed alcohol at increasing or higher risk levels (over 14 units per week). People aged 65 to 74 were twice as likely to drink at risky levels as those aged 25 to 34. Additionally, 5% of men drank more than 50 units weekly, and 3% of women drank over 35 units weekly.
Other findings included that 27% of adults were inactive, 46% had a longstanding illness, and 10% used e-cigarettes or vapes. The Department of Health and Social Care has been approached for comment.
