GoKawiilBaby boomers are the generation cutting back most on alcohol consumption, outstripping Gen Z’s abstinence, as moderation takes hold at every level of society.
Seventy-one percent of boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, consumed alcohol in the past six months—the lowest drinking rate of any generation and down 2 percentage points from three years ago, according to IWSR, a market researcher for the global beverage industry.
By contrast, 74 percent of Gen Z who are at the legal drinking age reported drinking in the past six months, up from 66 percent three years ago, as young people in their late teens and 20s catch up with the total adult population drinking rate of 76 percent.
The study challenges assumptions that young people are driving the weak demand and falling sales plaguing the global drinks industry.
“The narrative that Gen Z is the generation of moderation is now conclusively debunked,” said IWSR President Marten Lodewijks.
Shares at spirits groups such as Diageo, Pernod Ricard, and Brown-Forman have languished, prompting fierce debate in the sector as to whether the declines are a result of inflationary pressure or longer-term shifts to healthier lifestyles and online socializing.