I did not have access to the article, so apologies if what I conclude from your excerpts are incorrect.

... had consumed alcohol in the previous six months,...

So one sip for a toast at a friend's wedding puts you in the drinking category? Over 6 months time, no less? I would be more impressed if there were some qualifier such as "regularly" consumed...

Some fraction of the fall off in drinking is because it costs money. One possible view is that drinking rises with age for a while as the average person gets a bit wealthier, and only later falls off as the body handles it worse.

This would not explain the huge rise in Mocktails, which are just as expensive as alcohol based drinks, if not more. We have been eating out quite a bit recently, in Montreal and Quebec City, with every restaurant we go to having a page on the drink menu for Mocktails. Back in the US, I frequently notice new alcohol free bars popping up. Alcohol free wine and spirits are even available at places like Home Goods. I don't see this trend happening to the degree it does without serious coin being put towards it. Does that mean no alcohol consumption at all? Probably not, but it seems to be a declining consumption trend.

IP,
who finds the hard cider here in Canada so much better than what we can buy at home