This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
News
Croydon racks up most online searches for Dry January
The south London borough tops a list of UK locations with the highest number of Google searches for Dry Jan. Find out the others here.
According to Google search volume data, Croydon residents are the most interested in Dry January with 375 Google searches made per 100,000 residents. This number is significantly higher than the national average, which is 122 searches.
The data was collected between 1 December, 2024, and 3 January, and the ranking was achieved by analysing Google search volume data for terms related to Dry January. These included ‘alcohol-free January’; ‘completing Dry January’; and ‘coping without alcohol during Dry January’. Data was collected from 1 December, 2024, to 3 January, 2025.
Numbers were crunched across all 57 UK cities, and adjusted for the population in each location to determine the level of interest per capita.
After Croydon, which snatched the lead by a long way, Manchester and Newcastle followed in second and third place, with 278 and 233 searches per 100,000 residents respectively.
Croydon profile
The south London metropolis is known for being the home town of British rapper Stormzy and supermodel Kate Moss, as well as being the birthplace of the “Croydon face lift”; an unusually taut style of pony tail that pulls the hair away from the face. Croydon can also lay claim to pioneering the dubstep music genre (a mixture of Jamaican dub, drum and bass and garage).
As per the latest UK Census survey, carried out in 2021, the average (median) age of the Croydon resident is 37, with 63% of residents saying they were born in England.
India, Jamaica, Poland and Ghana make up the rest of the five most common countries of birth in Croydon.
In the 2021 Census, 47.9% of Croydon residents described their health as “very good”, which may explain the higher-than-average interest in moderating alcohol consumption during January.
The proportion of Croydon residents describing their health as “very bad” was just 1.2%.
North and south
The Google data showed nationwide interest in discovering more information around Dry January. Four southern locations (Croydon, Bournemouth, Plymouth and Swindon) made it into the Top 10, while five more northerly locations (Manchester, Newcastle, York and Burnley and Mansfield) also made the cut.
Gloucester, representing the Midlands, was also among the regions that demonstrated the most interest in Dry Jan.
Top 10 UK locations with the most ‘Dry January’ searches
*per 100,000 residents
Croydon: 375
Manchester: 278
Newcastle: 233
Bournemouth: 213
York: 195
Plymouth: 192
Mansfield: 174
Burnley: 167
Gloucester: 166
Swindon: 161
“The timeframe in which the data was collected gives us a good picture of how people are preparing for and starting their Dry January journey, rather than just capturing the first few days of the month,” says Brooks Lape, co-founder of Start Your Recovery, which led the research project.
“We encourage participants to use this month as a springboard for developing healthier habits year-round. It’s not just about abstaining for 31 days; it’s about gaining insights that can lead to more mindful decisions about alcohol consumption in the long term.”
Related news
Who can legally use the term Dry January?