39 percent of Gen Z in the United States plan to adopt a dry lifestyle in 2025, according to a report by marketing consultancy firm NC Solutions. The report also says that the top five reasons Americans plan to drink less in 2025 are to improve their physical health, save money, make lifestyle changes, improve their mental health, and lose weight.
In a 2023 study, analytics and advisory firm Gallup found that only 62 percent of adults under 35 say they drink, down from 72 percent in 2003. Meanwhile, among adults 55 and older, 59 percent say they drink — a 10-percentage point increase from 20 years ago.
Before this, cigarette and alcohol use was already in decline for Filipino youth. The 2021 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study shows that only 29 percent of young adult Filipinos consumed alcohol, a steep drop from the 40 percent recorded between 1994 and 2013. In the same time period, around one-fifth of young adults were smoking. But by 2021, that number dropped to only 12 percent.
Making The Switch
In January 2022, a law went into effect increasing the excise or “sin” tax on cigarettes and alcohol. Through the same law, heated tobacco products and e-cigarettes saw a P30 increase in excise tax. The excise tax on distilled spirits increased to P52 per proof liter from P47 in 2021. Alcoholic beverage prices also went up to P39 per liter that year.
However, despite the pandemic recession, nightlife establishments closing down, and the sin tax — which was designed to discourage smoking and alcohol consumption among Filipinos — tax collections from cigarette and alcohol products increased to P227.6 billion in 2020 from 2019’s P224.6 billion.
If Gen Z really is turning to sobriety, the price hike isn’t the culprit.
In fact, after the lockdowns, Filipinos — including young adults who came of age during the pandemic — flocked to the bars in what some call “revenge partying.” Tim Ng, owner of Mow’s, told Business World in 2022, “We’ve definitely surpassed our older numbers,” talking of the Quezon City bar’s post-lockdown sales. The Palace Manila’s JM Rodriguez and Alexandra Habaluyas also said they became more profitable despite the 50 percent capacity in their nightclubs in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City.
How Gen Z’s cultural shift to sobriety is affecting businesses by the numbers is not yet apparent. But businesses have become more accommodating of those who want to go dry, serving more non-alcoholic drinks. According to beverage market analysis firm International Wine and Spirits Record, the no- and low-alcohol industry is expected to grow by 25 percent between 2022 and 2026.
