The Bevtrac survey, commissioned by the IWSR, assesses consumer behaviour all over the globe and has identified that the number of Gen Z legal drinking aged drinkers and (LDA) in the UK who reported abstaining from alcohol for a month or longer during the past six months had dropped.
Across the UK, the figures revealed that the trend among Gen Z drinkers to abstain fell from 33% in autumn 2024 to 24% in autumn 2025. An even larger drop was recorded in Australia, where monthlong abstinence over the same period among Gen Z drinkers reduced from 39% to 24%.
Declines in abstinence
Abstain campaigns such as Dry January or Sober October have been notably popular among younger drinkers over the years but declines in take-up among Gen Z has now been registered in most of the 15 markets assessed, showing a changing of the tides.
The markets included France (from 32% to 24%), Italy (from 26% to 16%) and Brazil (from 39% to 35%). In the US, the trend has also remained flat rather than declined, with a dip from 32% to 31%.
The only market to show a significant increase in month-long abstinence among Gen Z drinkers was Mexico, which saw a gradual shift from a 31% uptake in Autumn 2024 to 35% in Autumn 2025.
Overall however, across all 15 markets combined, participation from Gen Z drinkers in such abstain campaigns fell from 30% in autumn 2024 to 28% in autumn 2025.
Also showing across all ages
The data also highlighted how the popularity of temporary abstinence of any length was also showing signs of stalling across all age groups.
For instance, in the autumn survey, 39% of all adult drinkers across all 15 markets reported engaging in temporary abstinence for one day or longer during the past six months. However, this figure is down from a recent increase, from 40% during the autumn 2024 to 41% during the spring of 2025.
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