The pub might be losing its pull—at least for younger Australians. A new study has found that Generation Z is turning away from alcohol far more than older generations, a trend that could bring major public health gains and signal a shift in the nation’s “deeply embedded” drinking culture.
The research from Flinders University analyzed 23 years of data to track and model drinking habits across five generational groups: the silent generation, baby boomers, Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z. The model found that Gen Z were 18 times more likely to abstain from drinking alcohol compared to baby boomers over the course of their lives. Gen Z Australians were also found to be consuming significantly less alcohol per week than older generations.
Understanding the Generational Shift
Lead author Gianluca Di Censo, a research fellow at the National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction (NCETA), explained that this first-of-its-kind study in Australia also assessed whether the trend would have a lasting impact. “It’s a really good sign because it’s showing that it’s not just in a certain period of time they’re drinking less, it’s likely that it’s going to persist across their whole lives,” he said.
Millennials are also drinking less than the generations before them, and along with Gen Z, are projected to abstain from drinking at much higher rates throughout their lives than the two oldest generations. Di Censo cautioned that future societal or economic developments could alter the model’s predictions, but for now, “it does seem like this is a permanent shift.”
Why Are Young People Drinking Less?
While the study doesn’t pinpoint exact reasons, researchers suspect several factors are influencing this pattern. These include the high cost of living, increased use of digital devices, rising consumption of health-related media, and a “cultural shift towards denormalizing alcohol consumption.”
“Gen Z feel as though they can go out and not drink and not seem like an outcast. There’s also a normalization of abstention and a prioritization of health and wellness,” Di Censo said.
Michael Livingston, an associate professor of alcohol research at Curtin University’s National Drug Research Institute, noted a “complex social pattern” at play, including a “fundamental shift” in how young people interact, given their significant online presence, changes in parenting, and increased awareness of alcohol-related health risks.
“Young people are much more risk-averse now than they were 20 years ago,” he said, pointing to research in other fields that shows declines in risk-seeking behaviors among teens, such as those linked to road accidents, sexual behavior, and crime.
Implications of a Cultural Shift
The study’s co-author, Kirrily Thompson from NCETA, highlighted the broader societal changes. “For decades, alcohol has been deeply embedded in social life, but that’s changing. Younger Australians are redefining what it means to socialize and celebrate, and they’re doing it with less alcohol,” she said. “That’s something we should be paying attention to, not just as researchers, but as a society.”
Alcohol consumption is linked to various health issues, including multiple forms of cancer, liver, and heart disease. According to estimates from the World Health Organization, alcohol consumption contributed to around 2.6 million deaths globally in 2019. The study’s authors believe understanding the drivers of generational trends could help inform public health strategies.
They suggest policies such as minimum alcohol pricing, tighter restrictions on advertising, and targeted health campaigns could help support the downward trend.
Global Perspective and Future Outlook
Changing habits around drinking among Australians have been well documented. Back in 2001, 70 percent of young people in Australia, aged between 14 and 17, said they had consumed alcohol in the past 12 months, according to the National Drug Strategy Household Survey. But that figure has dropped to about 30 percent in recent years.
A similar trend exists across several high-income countries, including New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom, and European countries like Sweden. Livingston noted it’s a common pattern across many countries, “with similar historic drinking cultures” to Australia.
While it’s not clear whether the trend is here to stay, researchers remain optimistic. “We’re not very good at knowing what’s going to happen in these big social changes in the future,” Livingston said. “I think certainly for this generation, the people in their 20s now, that cohort, will drink less through their life course than previous cohorts. But whether we continue to drive down teen drinking in the future is a mystery that we’ll have to keep tracking.”
