It’s the Era of ‘Self-Prohibition.’ That’s Made Booze-Free Alcohol a Big Business

• A market for alcohol-free beer, wine and spirits shops has opened up as more Americans moderate their drinking.

• Fewer adults drink, and those who do consume less than in years past, according to Gallup.

• Many are more aware of and concerned about the health risks of drinking, including young adults, research shows.

When the booze-free bottle shop Spirited Away opened in Manhattan five years ago, its proprietor found about a dozen options with which to stock the shelves. Now, according to co-owner Alex Highsmith, the store stocks about 300 brands.

Business, meanwhile, is increasing annually by double-digit rates. Customers, she said, try eschewing alcohol—testing a “Dry January,” for example—decide they like how they feel, and then “keep coming back.”

That feeling has helped retailers selling nothing but non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirits grow as alcohol consumption has waned.

Fewer Americans are drinking alcohol these days, and those who do are cutting back. About 54% of adults say they drink, Gallup said in August, the lowest rate recorded in 90 years. Those surveyed reported having an average of 2.8 drinks over the past week, down from 3.8 in 2024 and even more in prior years. The shift appears most pronounced among young Americans, with those under 25 drinking 17% less than older adults, according to research from Jefferies.

One reason for the pullback: Consumers are more aware of and concerned about alcohol’s negative health impacts, research shows, with recent studies linking alcohol consumption to cancer. The gradual legalization of cannabis, wider use of weight-loss drugs and embrace of health trackers may also be weighing on alcohol use, experts said. Some see drinking declining the way that cigarette smoking has.

“With wearables tracking every metric and influencers glamorizing sobriety, self-prohibition is a headwind that is not going away,” Jefferies wrote in a report this month. “Winners will likely be those who shape the moderation trend, not resist it.”

Some of those curbing their consumption still like to end their day with a drink, with many looking for something that looks and tastes like alcohol but doesn’t lead to a hangover. That has generated an audience for non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirits, a segment expected to be worth $5 billion by 2028, according to IWSR, a data and insights firm focused on alcohol.

Dozens of bottles and cans have cropped up on store displays beside Clausthaler, a nonalcoholic beer created in 1979. Actor Tom Holland launched Bero; Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton started zero-proof tequila brand Almave; and singer Kylie Minogue added alcohol-free bottles to her wine line.