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Statistics on Alcohol Consumption in the U.S.

The survey estimated current drinkers, binge drinkers, and heavy drinkers based on age groups, including individuals who are under age and are not allowed to drink alcohol. Alcohol users are those who drank alcohol in the past 30 days. The percentage of adolescents aged 12 to 17 who were current alcohol users was 9.2 percent, and 57.1 percen to young adults aged 18 to 25 were current alcohol users, while 54.6 percent of adults aged 26 or older were current alcohol users.

The following is a list of overall respondents who were current drinkers, binge drinkers, or heavy drinkers.

Ages 12-13
Current Drinkers: 1.4 percent (113 survey respondents)
Binge Drinkers: 0.3 percent (26 survey respondents)
Heavy Drinkers: 0.0 percent (3 survey respondents)

Ages 14-15
Current Drinkers: 7.9 percent (682 survey respondents)
Binge Drinkers: 3.7 percent (322 survey respondents)
Heavy Drinkers: 0.5 percent (47 survey respondents)

Ages 16-17
Current Drinkers: 17.7 percent (1,494 survey respondents)
Binge Drinkers: 10.2 percent (866 survey respondents)
Heavy Drinkers: 1.7 percent (141 survey respondents)

Ages 18-20
Current Drinkers: 39.1 percent (4,979 survey respondents)
Binge Drinkers: 26.2 percent (3,327 survey respondents)
Heavy Drinkers: 6.9 percent (878 survey respondents)

Ages 21-25
Current Drinkers: 67.6 percent (14,775 survey respondents)
Binge Drinkers: 45.4 percent (9,931 survey respondents)
Heavy Drinkers: 12.0 percent (2,622 survey respondents)
Ages 26-34

Current Drinkers: 64.1 percent (24,875 survey respondents)
Binge Drinkers: 37.2 percent (14,446 survey respondents)
Heavy Drinkers: 9.4 percent (3,651 survey respondents)
Ages 35 and older

Current Drinkers: 52.5 percent (89,817 survey respondents)
Binge Drinkers: 21.3 percent (36,408 survey respondents)
Heavy Drinkers: 5.2 percent (8,947 survey respondents)

According to the survey, 19.3 percent of respondents between ages 12 to 20 were drinkers. The rate of binge drinking was 62.5 percent among alcohol drinkers between the ages of 12 and 20, while 14.7 percent of alcohol users in that age group were heavy drinkers.

Estimated Current Drinkers by Gender

Males ages 12 and over

Current Drinkers: 55.3 percent (72,286 survey respondents)
Binge Drinkers: 28.9 percent (37,789 survey respondents)
Heavy Drinkers: 8.3 percent (10,894 survey respondents)

Females ages 12 and over

Current Drinkers: 46.4 percent (64,449 survey respondents)
Binge Drinkers: 19.8 percent (27,538 survey respondents)
Heavy Drinkers: 3.9 percent (5,394 survey respondents)