Why Is Gen Z Drinking Less? The “Sober Generation” Story Is Complicated

Depending on whom you ask, Gen Z is saving the world from alcohol or putting the bar industry out of business. Young people are supposedly too concerned with their sleep schedules, mental health, and bank balances to spend Friday night doing shots.

There’s some truth behind the headlines. Young Americans really are drinking less than previous generations did at the same age, and attitudes toward alcohol are changing. But the idea that an entire generation has collectively decided to swear off booze is a bit of a stretch.

For one thing, Gen Z isn’t a single age group. Its members range from teenagers who can’t legally drink to adults approaching 30. And depending on which group you look at—and how researchers measure alcohol consumption—the story changes considerably.

So what’s actually happening? And what can the rest of us learn from the generation that’s supposedly making sobriety cool?

Is Gen Z Really Drinking Less?

Yes! At least, when we compare young people today with those of previous generations.

A large US study found that the percentage of 18- to 22-year-olds who abstained from alcohol during the previous year increased steadily between 2002 and 2018. Rates of alcohol use disorder also declined. The findings were based on data from more than 182,000 young adults participating in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (McCabe et al., 2020).

More recent surveys suggest that the trend has continued. According to Gallup’s 2025 data, just 54% of American adults reported drinking alcohol, the lowest percentage in nearly 90 years of polling. Among young adults, that figure fell from 59% in 2023 to 50% in 2025.

Teenagers are drinking less, too. In 2024, 41.7% of US 12th graders reported consuming alcohol during the previous year, down from 45.7% in 2023, according to the Monitoring the Future survey.

But there’s an important distinction between drinking less and not drinking at all. A 2024 systematic review found that alcohol consumption among young adults had declined in several English-speaking countries. In the US, however, the findings became more mixed once people reached legal drinking age.

So, yes, Gen Z appears to be drinking less, especially during adolescence and early adulthood. Whether those habits will stick as the generation gets older is another question.

Why Is Gen Z Drinking Less?

There’s no single explanation for Gen Z’s changing relationship with alcohol. Some young people are concerned about their health. Others would rather spend their money elsewhere. And some simply don’t see drinking as a prerequisite for having a good time.

Researchers haven’t established exactly how much each factor contributes to the decline, but several cultural shifts may help explain what’s happening.

Drinking Is No Longer the Default Social Activity

For previous generations, drinking was practically built into the social calendar. First dates happened at bars. Birthdays called for shots. And going out on a Friday night generally meant going somewhere that served alcohol.

Those traditions haven’t disappeared, but younger people seem increasingly willing to question them.

A 2020 New Zealand study found that changing attitudes toward alcohol were the strongest identified contributor to a substantial decline in adolescent binge drinking. Among the young people surveyed, heavy drinking had become less socially acceptable.

Of course, Gen Z still goes to bars and parties. But alcohol has more competition than it once did. Coffee shops, fitness classes, gaming, and daytime gatherings offer plenty of opportunities to socialize without drinking.

The difference isn’t necessarily that young people don’t want to go out. It’s that going out doesn’t always have to mean drinking.

Health and Mental Wellness Are Bigger Priorities

For a generation accustomed to tracking its sleep, steps, and screen time, paying attention to alcohol consumption isn’t much of a leap.

Younger adults have grown up with relatively easy access to information about alcohol’s effects on sleep, anxiety, physical performance, and long-term health. And public attitudes are shifting. In 2025, Gallup found that 53% of American adults believed moderate drinking was harmful to their health, up from just 28% in 2015.

For some young people, drinking less may be mostly about avoiding the consequences of drinking. A Saturday morning workout is considerably less appealing with a hangover, and a few hours of fun on Friday night might not seem worth an entire weekend of feeling lousy.

The growing popularity of terms like sober curious, mindful drinking, and damp lifestyle reflects this middle ground. People can reconsider their drinking habits without necessarily committing to lifelong abstinence.

That’s also the idea behind mindful drinking: paying attention to when, why, and how much you drink, rather than simply following your usual routine.

Drinking Is Expensive

There are plenty of reasons to skip a night out, but the price of a cocktail is becoming a pretty compelling one.

Between drinks, transportation, food, and the occasional late-night impulse purchase, a few hours at a bar can turn into an expensive evening. For young adults already dealing with high rents and other living expenses, drinking may be one of the easier discretionary costs to cut.

Cost is frequently cited in consumer surveys as a reason Gen Z drinks less, although researchers haven’t established how much financial pressure explains the broader generational decline.

Still, it’s not hard to see the appeal of cutting back. When a round of cocktails can cost as much as a week’s worth of groceries, staying in starts to look pretty good.

Social Media Makes Losing Control a Riskier Proposition

An embarrassing night out used to be something you could hope your friends would eventually forget. Now there’s a chance someone will post the evidence before you’ve even made it home.

Gen Z has grown up in a world where cameras are everywhere and an unflattering video can travel well beyond the people who were actually there. It’s reasonable to wonder whether that makes some young people more cautious about getting visibly drunk.

Social media has also changed how people spend their free time. Gaming, group chats, and online communities offer ways to connect without meeting at a bar or party.

But there’s an important caveat: Researchers haven’t established that social media is directly responsible for declining alcohol consumption. The connection is plausible, but it’s still more of a cultural explanation than a demonstrated cause.

Nonalcoholic Drinks Make Cutting Back Easier

Not long ago, ordering something without alcohol at a bar generally meant choosing between soda, juice, and whatever the bartender could improvise.

Today, the options are considerably more interesting. Nonalcoholic beers, wines, spirits, and ready-to-drink cocktails allow people to participate in familiar drinking rituals without actually consuming alcohol.

That can make cutting back easier, particularly in social situations where everyone else has a drink in hand. Someone might order a cocktail one evening, a nonalcoholic beer the next, and sparkling water the night after that.

The growing range of nonalcoholic drinks doesn’t necessarily mean Gen Z is abandoning alcohol. It may simply make drinking selectively more convenient.

Is Gen Z Replacing Alcohol With Cannabis?

One popular explanation for Gen Z’s declining alcohol consumption is that young people have simply traded drinking for cannabis. But the research suggests a more complicated relationship.

The large national study by McCabe and colleagues found that alcohol abstinence and cannabis use both increased among young adults. But two trends occurring simultaneously don’t establish that one caused the other.

A smaller study focused on participants in Washington State found that recreational cannabis users who consumed both substances tended to drink more alcohol on days they used cannabis. In that sample, the substances appeared to complement each other rather than serve as substitutes.

Cannabis may play a role in some people’s decisions about drinking, but there’s little reason to believe an entire generation has simply exchanged one substance for another.

Is Gen Z Actually the Sober Generation?

Not exactly. The idea that Gen Z is the “sober generation” makes for a catchy headline, but it oversimplifies what’s happening. For one thing, there’s evidence that more Gen Z adults are drinking as the generation gets older.

According to alcohol-industry research from IWSR, the percentage of legal-age Gen Z adults across 15 markets who reported consuming alcohol in the previous six months increased from 66% in 2023 to 73% in 2025. By 2026, that figure had stabilized at around 74%.

Wait a minute. Didn’t Gallup just report that young Americans are drinking less?

Yes, and both findings can be true. The surveys measure different things. Gallup tracks alcohol consumption among US adults, while IWSR surveys legal-age Gen Z adults across multiple countries. They also use different definitions of drinking: IWSR asks whether someone has consumed alcohol at any point during the previous six months, which doesn’t tell us how frequently or heavily they drink.

There’s also evidence that drinking habits established during adolescence don’t always last.

A Swedish cohort study found that some of the decline in adolescent drinking faded as participants entered adulthood, although those who drank less when they were younger generally continued to drink less than their peers.

None of this means Gen Z is destined to embrace the drinking habits of its parents. But it does suggest that the generation’s relationship with alcohol is still evolving.

Perhaps “sober generation” isn’t quite the right description. Gen Z may be a generation that’s more comfortable questioning when, why, and whether it wants to drink at all.

Drinking Less Doesn’t Mean Drinking Is Risk-Free

There’s another reason to be cautious about celebrating Gen Z’s drinking habits: Generational averages don’t tell us much about the people who still drink heavily.

According to NIAAA data, 4.7% of full-time college students and 7.2% of young adults who weren’t in college reported consuming 10 or more drinks in a row during the previous two weeks in 2024.

And while declining alcohol consumption is generally good news for public health, the relationship between drinking rates and alcohol-related harm isn’t perfectly straightforward.

A 2025 systematic review found that alcohol-related harms generally declined in countries where adolescent drinking fell. However, those harms didn’t decrease as quickly as alcohol consumption itself, and improvements weren’t consistent across every group.

In other words, fewer young people drinking doesn’t mean risky drinking has disappeared. And someone who drinks infrequently can still experience serious consequences from drinking heavily on a particular occasion.

What Gen Z’s Drinking Habits Can Teach Every Generation

You don’t have to be 23, own a collection of reusable water bottles, or know what a “damp lifestyle” is to reconsider your relationship with alcohol.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Gen Z isn’t how much less young people drink. It’s that they’re increasingly willing to ask why drinking needs to be part of every social occasion in the first place.

That might mean ordering something nonalcoholic at dinner, skipping drinks on a weeknight, or deciding that a hangover isn’t worth the evening that preceded it. It might also mean enjoying alcohol occasionally without feeling obligated to drink every time the opportunity arises.

As therapist Merrilee Burke, LMFT, put it on the podcast Journey to the Sunnyside, “What I’m hoping is that the conversation isn’t about drinking or not drinking, but more how to drink.”

That’s a useful question at any age. Rather than approaching alcohol as an all-or-nothing decision, you can think about what role you actually want it to play in your life.

Make Mindful Drinking Part of Your Routine With Sunnyside

Questioning your drinking habits is a good place to start. But actually changing them can take a little more effort, especially when alcohol is already woven into your social life or daily routine.

Sunnyside is a mindful drinking program designed to help you cut back on alcohol or quit altogether, depending on your goals. Rather than relying on willpower or vague promises to drink less, you can use the app to plan your drinking, track your progress, and better understand the habits behind your alcohol consumption.

You’ll also have access to personalized text coaching, reminders, and a community of people working toward their own drinking goals.

For people who want additional support, Sunnyside Med combines these habit-change tools with online clinical care. After completing an online health assessment, you’ll receive a clinical evaluation to determine whether the medication naltrexone is appropriate for you. Eligible members receive compounded naltrexone with vitamin B6, along with ongoing support to help them work toward drinking less or quitting.

You don’t have to belong to the “sober generation” to rethink your drinking habits. And you don’t have to figure out how to change them on your own. Ready to get started? Take Sunnyside’s quick online assessment to explore your options.

This content is for educational purposes and should not be taken as medical advice. Naltrexone is a prescription medication, and a licensed clinician determines whether it is appropriate for each individual.