Does your town or city rank in this Dry January’s driest places?

Whether you’ve just had enough after the festive season, or the last two years has driven you to take a little better care of yourself, Dry January is a chance for lots of us to take a break from the booze...but who, or should we say, where, does it best?

Team Extreme’s digital marketing experts were desperate to find out where in the UK people were more likely to be a ‘dab hand’ at staying dry this January. With that in mind, we took to the web, did some digging and ranked the top ten ‘Driest Towns in the UK’, based on Google search volumes and interest for ‘alcohol free’ goodies (over the last five years).

So, who ranked in the UK’s top ten driest places?

While big cities might not be a surprise entry to this top ten owing to their increased population and therefore likelihood of having some Dry-January fans, the order and commitment of certain places to ‘ditch the drinks’ may well shock you!

The Top Ten Driest Places in the UK based on Google search data are:

1 - Edinburgh

2 - Manchester

3 - Glasgow

4 - Birmingham

5 - Leeds

6 - London

7 - Sheffield

8 - Liverpool

9 - Newcastle

10 - Brighton

The data is compiled based on the number of Google searches for ‘alcohol free’ as a fraction of total searches over the past five years, which generates a relative search interest.

Rise of the non-alcoholic drink

Choices for those going alcohol-free are on the up and it seems many of us are searching for ways to still look like the life and soul of the party, without the next day regret! Despite the UK being known for its love of the pub, perhaps the pandemic has slowed us all down a little and brands are catching on to the interest in no-to low alcohol alternatives - with many startups specialising in mocktails and lookalikes without the hangover. Statista tells us that UK spending on non-alcoholic drinks has risen from 8.4 million in 2005, to over 12.9 million in 2020. This is definitely a ‘one to watch’ market.