The reason Gen-Zers have stopped being 'sober curious

Hold the kombucha and pour me a pint! It seems that Generation Z are actually drinking alcohol, and I’m not surprised one bit.

- ROSAMUND HALL

I wish I’d made a note of the number of wine tastings, seminars, meetings and dinners where the seemingly existential crisis of Gen Z not drinking was discussed. Not to mention the thousands of entries on a brief Google search to see how much it’s been written about. It was going to be the death knell of the wine industry. But I never really believed it was going to stay that way. People change, after all. And, it seems I was right.

New data released by IWSR shows that the situation is altogether far more nuanced. I mean, aren’t most things in life? It seems the “sober curious” generation have become curious about booze.

IWSR’s Bevtrac findings show a marked increase in “alcohol participation levels” compared with two years ago. In research carried out in the top 15 markets (including the UK, North America and Australia) in April 2023, 66 per cent of Gen Z consumers said they had consumed alcohol in the past six months - this figure rose to 73 per cent in March 2025.

And interestingly, the trend is especially strong in some key global markets, including the UK, where participation increased from 66 per cent to 76 per cent, Australia, where there was a staggering leap from 61 per cent to 83 per cent, and the US, with a huge bump from 46 per cent to 70 per cent.