Price is now a more common prompt for UK drinkers to think about cutting back than a hangover or a health worry, according to reporting of the Drinkaware Monitor 2026 on 25 and 26 August 2026. The Mirror reported that 16% of people named rising prices as the issue most likely to have made them consider reducing their drinking in the past 12 months, against 13% who pointed to hangovers, 11% who cited fitness goals and 9% who cited a health concern. It also reported that 34% of UK drinkers are moderating in order to save money. The Monitor itself is a YouGov online survey of 7,210 UK adults aged 18 to 85, with fieldwork run between 26 May and 22 June 2026 and results weighted to the UK adult population by age, gender, social grade and region. Drinkaware has run the survey annually since 2017.
Moderation is up, and so is heavy drinking
Drinkaware reports that 91% of drinkers now use at least one moderation technique, up from 87% in 2025, with drink-free days during the week the most common approach. The same Monitor found 13% of UK drinkers binge drinking weekly or more often, up from 11% in both 2024 and 2025. Karen Tyrell, chief executive of Drinkaware, said the Monitor "could be an early indication that some hard-won gains may be eroding". The survey is self-reported, which tends to understate alcohol intake, and it measures behaviour at a single point in the year rather than tracking the same people over time.
What this means in practice
The finding worth sitting with is not about alcohol specifically. It is that price, not health messaging, is what most often moves behaviour in a cost-of-living squeeze. That pattern shows up across household health spending, and it is why cost transparency matters as much as evidence when people decide what to keep buying and what to drop. Drinkaware's own remit is the drinking side of that question, and its report is the place to read what it found rather than any summary of it. On the supplement side, our Perqen FAQs explain how our pricing is structured so the comparison is at least a fair one.
How Perqen members save
Perqen membership costs £4.99 a month or £29.99 a year and unlocks member pricing across the full catalogue, with no markup hidden in the product price. The arithmetic is set out on the Perqen membership page.
This article reports published news and research and is for information only. Food supplements are not a substitute for a varied diet or medical care, and no product mentioned is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Speak to your GP or pharmacist before changing what you take, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or taking prescribed medicines.
Sources
- Drinkaware Monitor 2026: Moderation and the moments that matter, August 2026
- Cost of living is more likely to prompt drinkers to cut back than health scare or hangovers - Mirror via AOL, 25 August 2026
- 91% of drinkers use moderation techniques despite rise in binge drinking - The Morning Advertiser, 26 August 2026