Young people regularly drink alcohol alternatives

Drinkers aged 18 to 24 are increasingly seeking out no- and low-alcohol products.

UK-based The Portman Group has conducted its sixth annual survey in partnership with YouGov, finding that young adults are the biggest consumers of no- and low-alcohol alternatives.

The survey found that 44% of 18- to 24-year-olds consider themselves occasional or regular drinkers of alcohol alternatives, up from 31% in 2022. This age group is also the most sober, with 39% not drinking alcohol at all.

“It is welcome to see a further rise in the popularity of low- and no-alcohol alternatives, as well as further evidence of how they are an important tool to help UK drinkers, particularly younger adults, to drink responsibly,” said Matt Lambert, CEO of The Portman Group.

For the sixth consecutive year, the most popular reasons for drinking alcohol alternatives are to avoid drinking excessively at social gatherings and to be able to drive home. In general, UK drinkers are consuming less, with 23% saying that their consumption has decreased, compared with 21% in 2022. Likewise, 35% of those surveyed now consider themselves an occasional or regular drinker of alcohol alternatives, up from 29% last year. 

“The availability of alcohol alternatives has never been more abundant and we eagerly await the outcome of the recent UK government consultation on low-alcohol descriptors, which we hope will further facilitate the growth of the UK low- and no-alcohol market,” Lambert said.

Of those who could recall, UK consumers said they most often drank no- and low-products alternating with alcohol or on days they were avoiding alcohol entirely, with 83% saying the first alcohol alternative they tried shared branding with an alcoholic product. Of the 2,197 adults surveyed, 75% of drinkers have tried a low- or no-alcohol alternative, compared with 33% of non-drinkers.

This week we revealed the results of The Low & No Masters 2024.