Americans' Alcohol Consumption & Preferences [CHART]

Chart: Americans Alcohol Consumption Preferences

Almost two-thirds (65%) of American adults drink alcoholic beverages on occasion, well within the 55-71% range observed over the past 70-odd years, reports Gallup in newly-released survey data. Among those whose who drink alcohol, the largest proportion (40%) last had a drink within the prior 24 hours, the research found. Beer remains the most commonly consumed alcoholic beverage, though there are strong gender differences.

Overall, 43% of alcohol drinkers said they most often drink beer, compared to 32% saying the same about wine and 20% about liquor. The percentage of drinkers saying they most often drink beer is the highest since 2002, when 44% said that was the case.

Still, there are varying trends when sorting by gender. Looking at combined data from 2010 through 2016, Gallup notes that 50% of female drinkers most often drink wine, more than double the percentage most often consuming beer (23%) or liquor (23%). Among male drinkers, a majority (54%) most often drank beer through that time period, with liquor taking slight precedence over wine among the remainder. Read the rest at MarketingCharts.com.