Skip to main content

Alcohol's Effects on Health

Research-based information on drinking and its impact.

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

Underage Drinking in the United States (ages 12 to 20)

Updated: 2024

Prevalence of Underage Alcohol Use, People Ages 12 to 20

Image
Image of a car with damage from a crash. Underage drinking in the United States. In 2021, there were 1,573 deaths of people age less than 21 from motor vehicle crashes involving alcohol. Source: NHTSA, 2023

Prevalence of Lifetime Drinking

According to the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 13.2 million people ages 12 to 20 (34.2% in this age group) reported that they have had at least one drink in their lives.1,2 This includes:

  • 6.5 million males ages 12 to 20 (32.3% in this age group)1,2
  • 6.8 million females ages 12 to 20 (36.3% in this age group)1,2
  • 101,000 American Indian or Alaska Native people ages 12 to 20 (31.1% in this age group)1,2
  • 536,000 Asian people ages 12 to 20 (21.9% in this age group)1,2
  • 1.4 million Black or African American people ages 12 to 20 (27.2% in this age group)1,2
  • 7.3 million White people ages 12 to 20 (37.8% in this age group)1,2
  • 447,000 people of two or more races ages 12 to 20 (34.7% in this age group)1,2
  • 3.4 million Hispanic or Latino people ages 12 to 20 (34.2% in this age group)1,2
  • Estimates for Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander people ages 12 to 20 were not presented because they were based on a relatively small number of respondents or had a large margin of error.1,2

Prevalence of Past-Year Drinking

According to the 2022 NSDUH, 10.9 million people ages 12 to 20 (28.3% in this age group) reported that they drank in the past year.1,2 This includes:

  • 5.4 million males ages 12 to 20 (26.8% in this age group)1,2
  • 5.6 million females ages 12 to 20 (29.9% in this age group)1,2
  • 76,000 American Indian or Alaska Native people ages 12 to 20 (23.5% in this age group)1,2
  • 458,000 Asian people ages 12 to 20 (18.7% in this age group)1,2
  • 1.1 million Black or African American people ages 12 to 20 (20.8% in this age group)1,2
  • 6.2 million White people ages 12 to 20 (32.3% in this age group)1,2
  • 363,000 people of two or more races ages 12 to 20 (28.2% in this age group)1,2
  • 2.7 million Hispanic or Latino people ages 12 to 20 (27.1% in this age group)1,2
  • Estimates for Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander people ages 12 to 20 were not presented because they were based on a relatively small number of respondents or had a large margin of error.1,2

Prevalence of Past-Month Drinking

According to the 2022 NSDUH, 5.8 million people ages 12 to 20 (15.1% in this age group) reported that they drank in the past month.1,2 This includes:

  • 2.8 million males ages 12 to 20 (13.8% in this age group)1,2
  • 3.1 million females ages 12 to 20 (16.5% in this age group)1,2
  • 38,000 American Indian or Alaska Native people ages 12 to 20 (11.8% in this age group)1,2
  • 258,000 Asian people ages 12 to 20 (10.5% in this age group)1,2
  • 502,000 Black or African American people ages 12 to 20 (9.5% in this age group)1,2
  • 3.5 million White people ages 12 to 20 (18.0% in this age group)1,2
  • 220,000 people of two or more races ages 12 to 20 (17.1% in this age group)1,2
  • 1.3 million Hispanic or Latino people ages 12 to 20 (13.5% in this age group)1,2
  • Estimates for Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander people ages 12 to 20 were not presented because they were based on a relatively small number of respondents or had a large margin of error.1,2

Prevalence of Past-Month Binge Drinking

According to the 2022 NSDUH, 3.2 million people ages 12 to 20 (8.2% in this age group) reported binge drinking in the past month (see glossary for definition of binge drinking).1,2 This includes:

  • 1.5 million males ages 12 to 20 (7.5% in this age group)1,2
  • 1.7 million females ages 12 to 20 (8.9% in this age group)1,2
  • 33,000 American Indian or Alaska Native people ages 12 to 20 (10.0% in this age group)1,2
  • 78,000 Asian people ages 12 to 20 (3.2% in this age group)1,2
  • 244,000 Black or African American people ages 12 to 20 (4.6% in this age group)1,2
  • 2.0 million White people ages 12 to 20 (10.2% in this age group)1,2
  • 119,000 people of two or more races ages 12 to 20 (9.2% in this age group)1,2
  • 714,000 Hispanic or Latino people ages 12 to 20 (7.2% in this age group)1,2
  • Estimates for Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander people ages 12 to 20 were not presented because they were based on a relatively small number of respondents or had a large margin of error.1,2

Prevalence of Past-Month Heavy Alcohol Use

According to the 2022 NSDUH, 646,000 people ages 12 to 20 (1.7% in this age group) reported heavy alcohol use in the past month (see glossary for definition of heavy alcohol use).1,2 This includes:

  • 377,000 males ages 12 to 20 (1.9% in this age group)1,2
  • 269,000 females ages 12 to 20 (1.4% in this age group)1,2
  • 12,000 Asian people ages 12 to 20 (0.5% in this age group)1,2
  • 13,000 Black or African American people ages 12 to 20 (0.2% in this age group)1,2
  • 459,000 White people ages 12 to 20 (2.4% in this age group)1,2
  • 31,000 people of two or more races ages 12 to 20 (2.4% in this age group)1,2
  • 116,000 Hispanic or Latino people ages 12 to 20 (1.2% in this age group)1,2
  • Estimates for American Indian or Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander people ages 12 to 20 were not presented because they were based on a relatively small number of respondents or had a large margin of error.1,2

Prevalence of High-Intensity Drinking

According to the 2022 Monitoring the Future survey, 2.4% of students in 12th grade reported high-intensity drinking.3

Trend in Underage Alcohol Use

NSDUH findings indicate a decline in underage drinking. From 2002 to 2022, the prevalence of alcohol use in the past 30 days decreased by 47.4% among people ages 12 to 20.4

Consequences of Underage Alcohol Use

  • Research indicates that alcohol use during the teenage years can interfere with normal adolescent brain development and increase the risk of developing alcohol use disorder. In addition, underage drinking contributes to a range of acute consequences, such as injuries, sexual assaults, alcohol overdoses, and deaths—including those from motor vehicle crashes.5
  • Alcohol is a factor in the deaths of thousands of people younger than age 21 in the United States each year. This includes:
    • 1,573 from motor vehicle crashes6
    • 998 from homicides7
    • 177 from alcohol overdose, falls, burns, and drowning7
    • 649 from suicides7
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), many (but not all) NSDUH estimates from 2022 are comparable with estimates from 2021, as long as updated 2021 estimates, presented in the 2022 Detailed Tables, are used. Please see the 2022 NSDUH Frequently Asked Questions for more information.
According to CDC, due to scientific updates to Alcohol-Related Disease Impact (ARDI), estimates of alcohol-attributable deaths or years of potential life lost generated in the current version of ARDI should not be compared with estimates that were generated using the ARDI default reports or analyses in the ARDI Custom Data Portal prior to February 29, 2024.

References

  1. SAMHSA, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Table 2.44A—Alcohol use in lifetime, past year, and past month and binge alcohol and heavy alcohol use in past month: among people aged 12 to 20; by demographic characteristics, numbers in thousands, 2021 and 2022. [cited 2023 Dec 8]. Available from: https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/reports/rpt42728/NSDUHDetailedTabs2022/NSDUHDetailedTabs2022/NSDUHDetTabs2-44and2-45pe2022.pdf
  2. SAMHSA, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Table 2.44B—Alcohol use in lifetime, past year, and past month and binge alcohol and heavy alcohol use in past month: among people aged 12 to 20; by demographic characteristics, percentages, 2021 and 2022. [cited 2023 Dec 8]. Available from: https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/reports/rpt42728/NSDUHDetailedTabs2022/NSDUHDetailedTabs2022/NSDUHDetTabs2-44and2-45pe2022.pdf
  3. Johnston LD, Miech RA, O’Malley PM, Bachman JG, Schulenberg JE, Patrick ME. Monitoring the Future National Survey Results on Drug Use 1975–2022. Table 4: Trends in 30-day prevalence of daily use of various drugs and binge drinking in grades 8, 10, and 12, 2022. Available from: https://monitoringthefuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/mtf2022table04.pdf
  4. Past-month alcohol use: consuming a drink of a beverage containing alcohol (a can or bottle of beer, a glass of wine or a wine cooler, a shot of distilled spirits, or a mixed drink with distilled spirits in it), not counting a sip or two from a drink in the past 30 days. The population prevalence estimate (%) is weighted by the person-level analysis weight and derived from the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH-2022-DS0001) public-use file. [cited 2024 Jan 12]. https://www.datafiles.samhsa.gov/dataset/national-survey-drug-use-and-health-2022-nsduh-2022-ds0001 
  5. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Get the facts about underage drinking [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): NIAAA; 2013 [updated 2023 Sept; cited 2023 Dec 8]. Available from: https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/underage-drinking
  6. Fatality and Injury Reporting System Tool [Internet]. Washington: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [cited 2023 Apr 10]. Available from: https://cdan.dot.gov/query
  7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Alcohol and Public Health: Alcohol-Related Disease Impact. [Table], Annual average for United States 2020–2021 alcohol-attributable deaths due to excessive alcohol use, under 21.[cited 2024 Mar 19]. Available from: https://nccd.cdc.gov/DPH_ARDI/Default/Report.aspx?T=AAM&P=F1F85724-AEC5-4421-BC88-3E8899866842&R=EACE3036-77C9-4893-9F93-17A5E1FEBE01&M=7F40785C-D481-440A-970F-50EFBD21B35B&F=AAMCauseGenderUnder21&D=H
Looking for U.S. government information and services?
Visit USA.gov