Why is Generation Z drinking significantly less alcohol than previous generations?

Research published by Berenberg Research in 2023 analysed alcohol consumption patterns across European cohorts and found that each successive generation since Baby Boomers has consumed less alcohol — but Gen Z represents the sharpest decline, a genuine inflection rather than a continuation of a gradual trend. In the UK, 26% of 16-24 year-olds now identify as non-drinkers, compared to 18% in 2005. In Belgium, the Sciensano National Health Survey found that 18-24 year-olds' weekly alcohol consumption dropped 31% between 2013 and 2023.

The social media factor is underappreciated. For previous generations, regrettable drunken behaviour was ephemeral — forgotten by the participants and invisible to the wider social network. For Gen Z, it is documented in video, shareable, potentially permanent, and discoverable by future employers. The calculus of 'let loose and drink' has a different risk profile when the evidence lives indefinitely on Instagram Stories and TikTok.

Mental health awareness is the second structural driver. Gen Z reports the highest rates of anxiety and depression of any generation in recorded survey data, and is simultaneously the most health-literate about alcohol's role as a depressant. For someone already managing anxiety, adding a substance that chemically worsens anxiety rebound effects the following morning is not an attractive proposition.

Surprising fact: in a 2024 survey of 18-25 year-olds across Belgium, France and the Netherlands, 44% said they had chosen a non-alcoholic drink at a social event in the past month — but only 12% of that group identified as 'non-drinkers.' The majority of Gen Z NA consumers are casual reducers, not permanent abstainers, which means the addressable market is dramatically larger than traditional 'teetotaller' numbers suggest.

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