CHICAGO, July 27, 2026 — For years, the food-away-from-home industry has seen some version of this headline: Gen Z isn’t consuming as much alcohol as older generations.
Gen Z, the name for the demographic group born between 1997 and 2012, is gravitating toward mocktails and, perhaps, hemp-THC beverages in lieu of beer, wine and spirits, the surveys said.
Well, new research is flipping the coaster on that prevailing assumption.
Gen Z, it turns out, is bellying up to the bar again, according to data released this month by London-based alcohol market research firm IWSR’s twice-yearly Bevtrac consumer survey.
In the U.S., 71% of Gen Z-ers of legal drinking age reported being alcohol consumers, up from 68% two years ago. That’s one percentage point higher than the country’s overall “alcohol participation rate,” IWSR noted.
Globally, Gen Z has a drinking rate of 74%, up from 66% three years ago, the survey found.
Gen Z currently makes up 17% of the population that’s of legal drinking age.
“The narrative that Gen Z is the generation of moderation is now conclusively debunked,” IWSR President and Managing Director Marten Lodewijks said. “While Gen Z consumers are creating new patterns for engaging with beverage alcohol, the evidence demonstrates that Gen Z consumers enjoy drinking at roughly the same levels as the rest of society.”
Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964), however, are now drinking less than any group. Their drinking rate decline two percentage points from three years ago, down to 71%. They’re also drinking less per occasion than other demographic groups, averaging 2.6 drinks, the research found.
“Boomer drinking has been tailing off for several years,” Lodewijks said. “This is typical for consumers as they reach their 60s and 70s. These latest Bevtrac results, however, show bigger than expected drops in Boomer drinking across all major metrics. If this trend continues, it may actually be the Boomers, not Gen Z, who deserve the title ‘generation of moderation.’”
Millennials are the biggest drinkers, at 81% participation, while Gen Z came in second at 77% globally, IWSR found.
Gen Z remains a group with interesting habits around alcohol consumption. Eighty-four percent of Gen Z-ers reported drinking cocktails in the last six months, more than any other group. They are also the most likely group to follow government health guidance around alcohol. And they’re the most likely to drink alcohol with a group of five or more people, the report said.
Overall, the survey found that even as the number of people drinking alcohol remains relatively consistent, drinking frequency and amount consumed per occasion is falling.
“This is almost certainly down in part to continued economic uncertainty, but there is growing evidence that where incomes are rising, beverage alcohol consumption does not keep pace,” Lodewijks said. “The moderation trend increasingly appears to be driven by lifestyle choices, resulting in structural, rather than cyclical change.”
Heather Lalley is the director of communications for IFMA The Food Away from Home Association. A lifelong journalist, Lalley has previously worked with industry publications including Restaurant Business, CSP Daily News, Supermarket News and Foodservice Director.