Boomers show lowest recent drinking rate among generations
IWSR data shows older adults reducing alcohol use while legal-age Gen Z drinking rates have risen over three years.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
2 min read
Baby boomers now have the lowest recent alcohol-use rate among generations, according to IWSR, a market researcher for the global beverage industry. The figures complicate the common view that Gen Z is leading the pullback from drinking.
IWSR said 71% of boomers, defined as people born from 1946 through 1964, reported drinking alcohol in the past six months. That was the lowest rate for any generation measured and was down 2 percentage points from three years earlier, according to the firm.
Legal-age Gen Z respondents moved in the other direction, IWSR said. Among Gen Z adults old enough to drink, 74% reported consuming alcohol in the past six months, up from 66% three years earlier.
The total adult drinking rate stood at 76%, according to IWSR. The firm said the Gen Z figure shows young adults in their late teens and 20s moving closer to the broader adult rate.
Moderation spreads beyond young adults
The data suggests alcohol moderation is not confined to the youngest legal drinkers. IWSR described a broader shift in which reduced drinking is taking hold across society, with boomers showing the sharpest retreat in recent drinking among the generations cited.
The comparison also depends on how the groups are counted. The Gen Z figure covers only people at or above the legal drinking age, while the boomer figure covers the full birth cohort identified by IWSR.
IWSR’s numbers cover whether respondents consumed alcohol at any point during the previous six months. They do not, based on the figures cited, describe how much alcohol respondents drank or how often they drank within that period.
This story draws on original reporting from Ars Technica.