Alcohol use among Norwegian 15–16-year-olds, 2014-2024: gender, social and rural-urban inequalities

Background

Alcohol initiation typically occurs during adolescence, and early onset is associated with increased short- and long-term health and social risks. Parental attitudes and permission to drink alcohol influence adolescents’ drinking behaviors and may and contribute to social and geographical inequalities. This study examines national trends in parental permission to drink, lifetime alcohol use, and intoxication among Norwegian 15–16-year-olds from 2014 to 2024, and explores differences by gender, socioeconomic position (SEP), and rural–urban residence.

Methods

The study builds on data from the nationwide repeated cross-sectional Ungdata survey collected in four period: 2014-2016, 2017–2019, 2021 and 2024. The sample included adolescents attending 10th grade lower secondary school (N = 160,663, 49% girls). Prevalence estimates were calculated using logistic regression models, stratified by gender, SEP and municipal centrality.

Results

From 2014 to 2021, lifetime alcohol use declined among boys (57% to 50%) and girls (59% to 54%). In the post-pandemic period (2024), a modest increase was observed among girls (to 56%), while levels among boys remained stable. Intoxication also increased post-pandemic, from 26% to 29% among girls and from 21% to 24% among boys. Parental permission to drink declined steadily until the COVID‑19 pandemic, increased thereafter, and remained consistently more prevalent among adolescents with low SEP than among those with high SEP. Across all outcomes, alcohol use, intoxication, and parental permission, prevalences were higher in rural than in urban municipalities.

Conclusions

Post‑pandemic increases in alcohol consumption, intoxication, and parental permission to drink were observed alongside persistent gender, socioeconomic, and rural–urban inequalities. These findings underscore the need for targeted public health prevention strategies that address both social inequalities and parental practices.

Key messages

• After COVID 19, adolescent ever alcohol use and intoxication, increased, with the strongest prevalences observed among girls.

• Parental permission to drink alcohol was more prevalent among adolescents with low socioeconomic position and those living in rural areas.