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Korean men drinking less, women 30 and up drinking more
Patrons enjoy beers at a bar near Jeonbuk National University in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, June 25. Yonhap
By Park Ung
High-risk drinking rates among Korean men declined overall across all age groups while those among women aged 30 and older rose, highlighting a growing divergence in the country's drinking habits.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) released an analysis Monday, aiming to raise awareness of excessive drinking during the summer vacation season.
The findings are based on the 2025 Community Health Survey, an annual survey of about 230,000 adults aged 19 and older that tracks health behavior and chronic disease prevalence.
The KDCA defines high-risk drinking as consuming seven or more shots of soju or five or more cans of beer in a single sitting for men. For women, the threshold is five or more shots of soju or three or more cans of beer. Both apply to drinking at least twice a week over the past year.
Monthly binge drinking refers to the same amounts consumed at least once a month, while monthly drinking refers to drinking at least once a month over the past year.
In Korea, 57.1 percent of adults drank at least once a month, 33.7 percent binge drank and 12 percent engaged in high-risk drinking.
That trend diverged sharply by age and gender. Between 2016 and 2025, the high-risk drinking rate fell across all age groups for men, from those in their 20s to those 70 and older, while it rose in every age group for women except those in their 20s.
However, men still outpaced women on every indicator, with problem drinking concentrated in the middle-aged bracket. Half of men in their 30s, 40s and 50s binge drank and more than 1 in 5 in their 40s and 50s engaged in high-risk drinking. Among women, binge drinking peaked among those in their 20s at 34.2 percent, followed by those in their 30s at 26.6 percent.
“This analysis confirmed that Korea's overall drinking behavior is improving, but men in their 30s, 40s and 50s still show high rates of monthly binge drinking and high-risk drinking, and women 30 and older show rising rates of both,” KDCA Commissioner Lim Seung-kwan said. “Binge drinking and high-risk drinking raise the risk of disease, injury and alcohol dependence, so people should abstain from alcohol.”