Young adults drinking less could spell doom for pub sales: analyst

60% of young people said they did not drink alcohol in 2021.

The number of young people between the ages 16 to 24 years old, who don’t drink has risen by 17% since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and could severely impact the profitability of pubs in the UK, analyst Peter Backman said.

Citing data from the NHS, it was revealed that 60% of young adults said they haven’t drunk alcohol in 2021, an increase of 30% compared to twenty years ago.

According to Backman, even if these young adults revert to heavier drinking habits when they get older, the figures the NHS released aren’t supporting this with 33% of the 2002 cohort of
16-24-year-olds becoming non-alcohol drinkers which increased to 39% when they reached the ages of 25 to 34. It then increased again to 44% when they formed part of the 35-44-year-olds. 

“That means that as the years go by there will be an accelerating growth of teetotallers. This clearly has implications for the pub sector which has been coming to terms with reduced drinking amongst the young for years. But this acceleration in the number of non-drinkers seems to be something new and it means that alcohol sales will fall at a growing rate. The results, over time, will be more pubs closures, and accelerating growth in food and entertainment which will become ever more important to the viability of a goodly number of pubs, and the success of all of them,” Backman said.