Has alcohol consumption in England returned to pre‐COVID‐19 pandemic levels? A monthly population study, 2014 to 2024

Aim

To determine whether alcohol consumption in England had returned to pre-pandemic levels by December 2024, after the initial rise in 2020 across the total population and subgroups.

Design

Monthly representative surveys were conducted through face-to-face interviews until February 2020, and then by telephone.

Setting

England, March 2014 to December 2024.

Participants

208 010 adults aged 18+ living in private households.

Measurements

Mean weekly alcohol consumption (in UK units), prevalence of risky drinking (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test for Consumption [AUDIT-C] score≥5), and possible dependence (AUDIT-C ≥ 11). Further measures included age, gender, and social grade.

Findings

All outcomes increased in April 2020: prevalence of risky drinking by 30.3% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 26.8, 33.8, from 26.2% in February 2020 to 34.0% in April 2020), prevalence of possible dependence by 90.2% (95% CI: 62.2, 122.9, from 0.9% to 1.7%) and mean weekly alcohol consumption by 34.5% (95% CI: 31.0, 38.0, from 5.0 units to 6.6 units). When adjusting for the survey mode change from face-to-face to telephone interviews, the step changes between February and April 2020 remained but were substantially attenuated. The post-pandemic trend declined more quickly than the pre-pandemic trend for the prevalence of risky drinking (difference: −1.5%/year, 95% CI: −2.4, −0.6) and mean weekly alcohol consumption (difference: −2.4%/year, 95% CI: −3.3, −1.6), indicating a slow but incomplete return to pre-pandemic levels. The trend in prevalence of possible dependence was similarly stable before and after the pandemic (difference: −1.3%/year, 95% CI: −6.2, 3.8). Alcohol consumption declined more slowly among people from less advantaged than from more advantaged social grades.

Conclusions

The prevalence of risky drinking and mean weekly alcohol consumption in England appear to be trending towards pre-pandemic levels but the prevalence of dependent drinking in England appears to have increased since the start of the pandemic and remains elevated compared with pre-pandemic levels. Alcohol-related inequalities may be worsening due to slower declines in consumption following the pandemic among less advantaged drinkers.