Alcohol-free and low-alcohol drinks in the UK: Trends, barriers, and opportunities

Overview

Alcohol-free and low-alcohol drinks are becoming an increasingly visible part of the UK’s drinking landscape. With their growth now recognised in the NHS 10-Year Plan as a component of harm reduction, understanding who uses these products, and why, is vital.

This report examines how alcohol-free (0.0–0.05%) and low-alcohol (up to 1.2%) drinks are used for moderation across different groups of drinkers, exploring trends in uptake, motivations and barriers, and what this reveals about shifting drinking cultures in the UK.

Key findings

Use is rising across the UK

• 44% of UK drinkers now moderate their alcohol intake using alcohol-free or low-alcohol drinks (up from 31% in 2018). 

• Use of alcohol-free drinks have grown most sharply (from 18% in 2018 to 31% in 2025), with low-alcohol also increasing (from 25% to 33% over the same period). 

Young, affluent and low-risk drinkers are leading the way

• Uptake among 18–34-year-olds has risen from 28% to 49%.
• ABC1 drinkers and low-risk drinkers show the biggest increases in uptake.

Risky drinkers are beginning to follow

• Among risky drinkers (those drinking above the low-risk guidelines), use has risen from 23% to 40%, and use of alcohol-free drinks has tripled from 7% to 23%.
• Encouragingly, most risky drinkers (59%) use these products as replacements rather than additions to regular-strength alcohol, highlighting their potential for harm reduction. 

Motivations differ by risk level

• Compared to all drinkers of these products, risky drinkers are more likely to cite practical needs, such as needing to drive (47% vs 35%), being in situations where they couldn't or didn't want to drink alcohol (40% vs 26%) and wanting to cut down their alcohol intake (39% vs 22%), as reasons to choose these products. 
• For other drinkers, curiosity, the social feel of these products, and their similarity in taste to regular alcohol are key drivers.

Barriers remain

• Only 26% of drinkers can correctly define ‘alcohol free’ and just 16% know what counts as ‘low alcohol’. 

• Taste, availability, price, and social perceptions (especially among risky drinkers) may limit wider use. 

• Visibility in pubs, restaurants, and bars remains inconsistent.

Who’s being left behind? 

• Uptake has grown more slowly among older (55+) and less affluent (C2DE) drinkers. 
• This widening gap matters, as older adults are the age group where consumption and harm are highest, and drinkers from lower-income backgrounds face higher alcohol harm despite often drinking the same or less than affluent groups. 

 Why it matters 

The rise of alcohol-free and low-alcohol products represents a promising shift in UK drinking behaviour. However, the public health benefit of this trend depends not only on rising usage but on the extent to which alcohol-free and low-alcohol drinks are being used as substitutes for regular-strength alcohol; displacing consumption rather than being added to it, particularly among risky drinkers. 

Policymakers, producers, and retailers have a window of opportunity to shape the direction of this growing category. This includes ensuring affordability, increasing availability in both retail and on-trade settings, designing inclusive product ranges, and delivering campaigns that support substitution, particularly among those at higher risk of alcohol-related harm.