You guys need to read this because the whole "Gen Z is ruining alcohol sales" conversation is getting debunked and the truth is wilder than anyone expected! IWSR surveyed over 32,000 people across the 15 largest markets and found that boomers — not Gen Z — are actually cutting back most. Boomer drinking rate hit just 71% of those born between '46-'64 in the last six months, down from higher levels three years ago, while Gen Z at legal age is up to 74% (up from 66%) and near the total adult average of 76%. The real bombshell is that this isn't just a bad year — drinks per occasion dropped from 4.4 in '25 to only 3.9, which Marten Lodewijks at IWSR calls structural rather than cyclical. This means Diageo, Pernod Ricard, and Brown-Forman are facing longer-term shifts toward healthier lifestyles and online socializing that inflation can't fix, even as India's high-income drinking rate jumped from 67% to 77% and China climbed from 86% to 89%. So the "Gen Z" argument is a convenient narrative for failing brands while boomer moderation is actually what's moving the needle.

Source: https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/07/boomers-not-gen-z-are-the-generation-cutting-back-most-on-alcohol/