There’s something a little different about people born from 1997 to 2012, people currently in their late teens and twenties, the so-called Generation Z, or Gen Z for short, or Zoomers. A slew of recent studies show that Gen Z consumes less alcohol than previous generations.

In a recent article on the phenomenon, TIME reports that:

[T]he share of adults under age 35 who say they ever drink dropped ten percentage points in two decades, to 62% in 2021-2023 from 72% in 2001-2003.

TIME says the decline began around the year 2000, near the start of the Zoomer generation. For Gen Z, drinking in the past month has declined, drinking in the past year has declined, and lifetime drinking has also declined.

The National Institutes of Health’s Monitoring the Future survey has been assessing teen drug use annually for 51 years. Reported substance use sharply declined in 2020 and 2021, and researchers suspect it was due to the reduction in teen gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, substance use was declining before the pandemic, and has continued declining since. Here are some of the relevant numbers on alcohol use in the past year from the Monitoring the Future survey:

8th Graders in 1997 45.5%

8th Graders in 2025 11.2%

10th Graders in 1997 65.2%

10th Graders in 2025 23.%%

12th Graders in 1997 74.8%

12th graders in 2025 41.1%

Going from almost half of eighth graders consuming alcohol in the past year to barely over 10% is a steady and stunning reduction. The steady declines radiate up the age brackets, so now even high school seniors are below 50% for alcohol consumption in the previous year.

Now comes the guessing game: Why is Gen Z alcohol use significantly below that of previous generations? The widespread legalization of marijuana, cannabis, hemp, and THC products could be a reason. Is Gen Z substituting THC for alcohol?

The Monitoring the Future survey shows no such trend. Cannabis use has remained steady for Gen Z from 1997 to 2020. With the pandemic, cannabis use dropped for 8th, 10th, and 12th graders. The numbers show cannabis use has continued to decline since 2020, despite legalization. So Gen Z is not substituting pot for booze; they’re actually consuming less of both.

“[P]art of the decline in underage drinking could be related to less in-person socializing,” speculated George F. Koob, Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. He cites a Surgeon General report that the amount of time people spend socializing with friends has plummeted from 30 hours a month in 2003 to just 10 hours a month in 2020. The report continues:

This decline is starkest for young people ages 15 to 24. For this age group, time spent in-person with friends has reduced by nearly 70% over almost two decades, from roughly 150 minutes per day in 2003 to 40 minutes per day in 2020.

The Times of India speculates that the marked reduction in alcohol consumption for Gen Z “is linked to increased health awareness, longer-term decision-making, and concern for social media appearance.” The article points out that Gen Z exercises more than previous generations, gets therapy more than previous generations, and is more likely to take food supplements.

It’s not only American kids who are shying away from alcohol. A recent study from Flinders University in Australia found that, “Not only are [Gen Z] more likely to abstain, but they also consume significantly less alcohol per week than older generations.”

If Gen Z is consuming substantially less alcohol than previous generations, and is not increasing cannabis use despite widespread legalization, what about food? Is Gen Z also eating less food than previous generations?

Sadly, despite the advent of GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy, Gen Z is going in the wrong direction on food consumption. Obesity rates for 16-24 year olds have risen from 31% in 2002 to 37% in 2022. Mental health disorders have ballooned since the pandemic, impacting 10% of 17-19 year olds in 2017 but more than 23% in 2023.

Perhaps the increase in obesity and the increase in mental health disorders are related to each other. One thing that certainly has shaped Gen Z is access to social media. The impact of social media on mental health is pretty clear. The impacts of social media on substance abuse, however, are much more difficult to ascertain.

Written by Steve O’Keefe. First published February 17, 2026.

Sources:

“Why Gen Z Is Drinking Less,” TIME, January 1, 2026.

“Reported use of most drugs remains low among U.S. teens,” National Institute on Drug Abuse, December 17, 2025.

“Young Adults in U.S. Drinking Less Than in Prior Decades,” Gallup, August 22, 2023.

“Drinking through the generations,” Flinders University News, October 7, 2025.

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