London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

One in three drinking less in lockdown, UK survey finds

One in three drinking less in lockdown, UK survey finds

Coronavirus changing alcohol habits, as one person in five consumes more
The coronavirus lockdown is transforming Britons’ relationship with alcohol, as research reveals that some have increased their consumption, but an even larger number are drinking less or have stopped entirely.

While one in five people – equating to 8.6 million adults – said they were drinking alcohol more frequently in lockdown, to researchers’ surprise one in three (14 million) were taking steps to manage or stop drinking.

A small but significant proportion (6%) said they had stopped drinking entirely, according to the Opinium survey of more than 2,000 adults for the charity Alcohol Change UK.

An example of the pressure of lockdown on those struggling to maintain their alcohol recovery was “Lizzie”, one of the charity’s clients and the mother of a young child, who has managed to remain alcohol-free after a “dry January”.

“Since lockdown things have been harder,” she said. “I have had to stop my therapy sessions, and there have been a couple times I have thought, ‘I could just drink that whole bottle of Prosecco that’s still hanging around from Christmas.’

“Everywhere online people are talking about drinking to respond to our current situation and honestly it breaks my heart, because I don’t want to be numb anymore.”

Meanwhile, some 3.5 million adults are living in households where alcohol is leading to greater conflict during the lockdown, the researchers found. Of that group, one in seven people with children under 18 reported that alcohol had led to increased tensions.

Other trends included the emergence of drink-free days, adopted by 14% of people. The Guardian reported last week that the coronavirus lockdown had led to a mushrooming of online support groups for people coping with drink problems, with organisations such as Alcoholics Anonymous having to deal with meetings being hijacked by trolls.

The Opinium survey, carried out from 8 to 14 April, found that the people who had cut down the most had not been drinking much anyway. Nearly half (47%) of people who drank once a week or less have cut down or stopped consuming alcohol, compared with just over a quarter (27%) of people who drank two to six times a week, and just one in five (17%) of daily drinkers.

Nearly one in five (18%) of daily drinkers have increased the amount they drink.

Prof Sir Ian Gilmore, chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance UK, said it was good news that many people were taking their health seriously during the pandemic by reducing their alcohol consumption, something strongly recommended by the World Health Organization.

“Cutting down on alcohol will not only improve our own health but it will help to protect the NHS long term, and so it is important that these healthy trends continue,” he said.

“That said, lockdown will be a difficult experience for many dependent drinkers, those in recovery, or those whose alcohol consumption has risen sharply in the last few weeks.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×