Whereas typically labelled because the technology of moderation, the report’s findings present that throughout 15 key markets, the proportion of authorized ingesting age Gen Z customers who’ve consumed alcohol previously six months has risen from 66% in March 2025 to 73% in March 2025.
The development is extra pronounced in some key markets over the identical time interval: from 46% to 70% within the US, from 66% to 76% within the UK and from 61% to 83% in Australia.
“Moderation has been a rising development amongst all drinkers for a number of years, however the concept that Gen Z authorized ingesting age drinkers are in some way basically completely different from different age teams isn’t supported by the proof,” stated Richard Halstead, IWSR chief working officer of Shopper Insights.
“As an illustration, we all know that beverage alcohol consumption correlates with disposable revenue, and Gen Z got here of age throughout a cost-of-living disaster. Rising costs have been particularly acute in bars and eating places – locations that enchantment most to Gen Z drinkers.
“With yearly that passes, extra Gen Z drinkers are getting into the workforce, and people already within the workforce are sometimes incomes extra. I feel we should always count on that, as their incomes rise, they’ll drink extra typically, simply as Millennials did earlier than them.
“The excellent news for the beverage alcohol trade is that, whereas moderation is about to be a long-term issue, consumption just isn’t in a tailspin. In line with this proof, a lot of the current decline is cyclical, not structural, and is unquestionably not the ‘fault’ of Gen Z.”
