WATCH OUT AA –
Aug. 13, 2026 – The number of people who drink in a way that crosses the line into a medical disorder decreased substantially over a five-year period. The Survey released late last month, found that the share of people 12 and older who qualified for a diagnosis of alcohol use disorder fell to 8.9 percent in 2025 from 10.6 percent in 2021.
The methodology of the annual survey, conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, was updated during the pandemic, so its results cannot be compared to years before 2021, the agency said.
But Katherine Keyes, a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University, said the decline was credible, in part because a Gallup survey and a long-running University of Michigan study also show fewer Americans are drinking.
