High-risk drinking among men has declined across all age groups over the past decade, while among women it has instead increased across all age groups aged 30 and older. In particular, as binge drinking and high-risk drinking among middle-aged women show an upward trend, analysts say tailored alcohol-reduction policies that account for gender and age are needed.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) released the results of its analysis of domestic drinking behavior based on the "2025 Community Health Survey" on the 27th. The Community Health Survey is a national statistic that surveys the health behaviors of approximately 230,000 adults aged 19 and older nationwide.
As of last year, 57.1% of adults were "monthly drinkers" who drink at least once a month, and 33.7% experienced "monthly binge drinking," or consuming a large amount of alcohol at one time. The high-risk drinking rate, defined as repeated binge drinking two or more times a week, was 12.0%. About 59% of monthly drinkers engaged in binge drinking, and 35.6% of binge drinkers fell into the high-risk drinking category, confirming a pattern in which health risks grow as drinking is repeated.
Trends by gender diverged clearly. Men's high-risk drinking rate declined across all age groups after 2016. Among those in their 20s, it fell from 17.8% to 10.4%, a 41.6% decrease; among those in their 30s, it dropped from 25.5% to 16.3%, and among those in their 40s, from 31.3% to 22.3%.
By contrast, women's high-risk drinking rate rose across all age groups aged 30 and older. It increased from 6.8% to 8.1% for those in their 30s, from 5.8% to 7.6% for those in their 40s, from 3.8% to 4.3% for those in their 50s, and from 1.3% to 1.6% for those in their 60s. The monthly binge drinking rate also showed an upward trend among all women aged 30 and older after 2019.
In absolute terms, men showed higher figures than women across all drinking indicators. Last year, one in two men in their 30s to 50s engaged in monthly binge drinking, and more than one in five men in their 40s to 50s fell into the high-risk drinking category. Among women, binge drinking and high-risk drinking rates were relatively high among those in their 20s to 40s.
Regional disparities were also large. Last year, the high-risk drinking rate was highest in Gangwon at 15.7%, followed by North Chungcheong (14.4%) and Ulsan (13.3%). By contrast, Sejong was the lowest at 7.0%, while Daejeon (9.5%) and Seoul and Gwangju (10.1% each) were also relatively low. Based on the three-year average by city, county, and district, Sokcho in Gangwon, Ongjin County in Incheon, and Yanggu County in Gangwon had the highest high-risk drinking rates.
In international comparisons, Korea's drinking level was still relatively high. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Korea's monthly binge drinking rate exceeded the OECD average and was the fifth highest among 27 comparable member nations.
The KDCA analyzed that smokers were 2.6 times more likely to engage in high-risk drinking than non-smokers, and that chronic diseases, depressive symptoms, stress, and obesity also showed significant associations with high-risk drinking. Accordingly, it stressed that prevention policies reflecting regional drinking characteristics and differences by gender and age are needed.
