Alcohol consumption in the United States has declined for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, but the broader picture remains troubling. Overall use is still above levels recorded before the pandemic, while adults ages 50 to 64 have posted a sharp rise in heavy drinking.

Research led by the University of Southern California and Keck Medicine found that alcohol use among adults ages 50 to 64 increased by nearly 4% from 2018 to 2024. Heavy drinking within that group climbed by more than 36% during the same period.

Across all age groups, alcohol use declined by nearly 2% between 2022 and 2024, while heavy drinking fell by more than 8%. Those reductions followed four years of increases and did not bring overall alcohol consumption below pre pandemic levels.

Younger adults showed some of the steepest pullbacks. Alcohol use among Gen Z adults declined by more than 5%, while millennials consumed approximately 17% less alcohol from 2022 to 2024.

The findings were published Sept. 21 in Annals of Internal Medicine. Researchers analyzed self reported information from the National Health Interview Survey, which included 114,352 adults in the United States between 2018 and 2024.

Heavy drinking was defined differently for men and women. For men, it meant five or more drinks per day or at least 15 drinks per week within the previous 12 months, while for women it meant at least four daily drinks or eight weekly drinks.

Men recorded a larger decline in overall alcohol use than women, at 2.4% compared with 1.1%. Women, however, had a larger reduction in heavy drinking, which fell 9% among women and 7.7% among men.

“Women’s heavy drinking rose more than men's during the pandemic and is still about 13% above where it was in 2018,” lead study author Brian P. Lee, M.D., associate professor of medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, told Fox News Digital.

Lee said women can develop liver damage at lower levels of alcohol consumption than men, making the continued elevation particularly concerning. The study received partial funding from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the National Institutes of Health.

The study’s principal limitation was its reliance on people reporting their own drinking, according to Lee, who said those estimates tend to run low. Researchers also could not determine why drinking patterns changed, and they did not examine why younger adults reduced their alcohol consumption.

Lee described the recent decline as a promising shift rather than an established trend because it followed several years of increases. Dr. Chris Tuell, clinical director of addiction services at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, said several pressures may contribute to increased drinking among older adults.

Tuell, who was not involved in the study, pointed to reflection and life changes that often emerge as people approach their 50s and 60s. Loneliness, disconnection, polarization, grief and the loss of friends or family members may leave some people seeking escape or a way to cope.

Chronic pain, medical problems and reduced function may create additional strain as people age. Approaching retirement can also bring a loss of daily structure and disrupt an identity built over decades, leaving some older adults with more boredom and uncertainty about how to spend their time.

Age also changes how the body handles alcohol, Tuell said. An amount someone consumed five years earlier may affect that person differently because alcohol is no longer metabolized in the same way, while women may be especially affected because of differences in body fat and water.

Lee said alcohol does not affect everyone equally, but risk begins at low levels and rises with each additional drink. “There isn't a level the evidence shows to be safe.”

Alcohol can become problematic even when a person does not have an addiction, Tuell noted. Drinking may contribute to hangovers, risky situations, strained relationships, reduced interest in hobbies and disrupted sleep.

People normally move through a sleep cycle four to five times each night, according to Tuell, but drinking can reduce that pattern to two or three cycles. The result, he said, is poorer rest during the night.

Tuell emphasized that it is never too late to seek help for alcohol dependency, noting that he has treated people in their 80s. Lee advised people over 50 who are drinking more than they did before 2020 to ask a doctor about liver health, even when they feel no symptoms.

“There are clear increases in cancer and liver risk with alcohol, even at low levels,” Lee warned. “Even advanced liver disease might have no symptoms, and the earlier alcohol-related liver damage is caught, the more of it can be undone.”