Baby 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.
The survey of more than 32,000 people across the 15 largest alcohol markets found that drinkers consumed 3.9 drinks at each occasion, down from 4.4 drinks in 2024 and 2025.
“The moderation trend increasingly appears to be driven by lifestyle choices, resulting in a structural rather than cyclical change,” Lodewijks said.
While declines were in part due to continued economic uncertainty, alcohol consumption was not keeping pace in regions where incomes are rising, in a further sign the industry’s woes are structural.
The survey found that boomers drank the fewest number of drinks on the fewest occasions, at just 2.6 drinks.
Lodewijks said it was typical for consumers to drink less in their 60s and 70s, but that the results showed bigger than expected drops across all metrics.
“If this trend continues, it may actually be the Boomers, not Gen Z, who deserve the title ‘generation of moderation,’” he added.
While rates are falling globally, in a few emerging markets drinking is on the up.
In India, the participation rate among high-income earners in urban populations was 77 percent, up substantially from 67 percent three years ago. In China, the rate among drinkers in the same cohort was 89 percent, up from 86 percent three years ago.
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