Low and no-alcohol lifestyle booms

About 5 million people will drink their first beer or glass of wine that they have consumed in a month next week as “dry January” comes to an end.

However for an increasing number of people it will be an entirely dry year, as low and no-alcohol becomes the lifestyle of choice for many people.

Tesco says its sales of low-alcohol wines have more than doubled. The supermarket’s wine expert Alexandra Runciman, says: “Consumption of alcohol in the UK down is down by 18% over the last decade and we’re seeing more customers looking for a quality wine-drinking experience without the alcohol.”

Drinking rates among British adults are at their lowest since 2005. A recent Office for National Statistics survey found the proportion who drank alcohol at least once a week declined from 64.2% to 56.9% last year. Almost 100,000 people officially signed up to the “dry January” challenge this year – about 40% up on 2017 – while millions more joined in unofficially.

The trend is particularly prevalent among young people: more than a quarter of 16- to 24-year-olds do not drink.

Stuart Elkington, founder of specialist online store Dry Drinker, says his sales have more than doubled in the last 12 months. He believes an improvement in the taste of low- and no-alcohol beers and wines has combined with a general desire to cut calories, be healthy and avoid waking up with a hangover.

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