More adults in England are avoiding alcohol—what’s behind the trend?

Another attempt at Dry January?No, this seems to be a year round phenomenon. Latest data from the Health Survey for England 2024 show that almost a quarter of adults don’t drink alcohol.1Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder?Maybe those public health messages are getting through. The questionnaire of 10 000 adults found that 24% described themselves as non-drinkers. This was a noticeable rise from data covering 2011-22, when non-drinkers generally hovered around 19%.What’s caused the figure to tank?Gen Z shunning the booze is a major factor. Almost a third (32%) of 16-24 year olds—including a whopping 36% of men in this age bracket—described themselves as non-drinkers. This compared with only 15% of people aged 55-64 (17% of women, 14% of men).Can we thank Love Island for this?There does seem to be a generational shift in how health conscious and body conscious people are, but that’s possibly too simplistic. Income is also…