Five Key Trends Shifting the Beverage Alcohol Market in 2025

The global drinks industry is facing a “subdued but opportunity-rich” trading environment in 2025, with five key trends set to shape the year ahead, according to the latest research from IWSR, the global authority on beverage alcohol data and intelligence.

After persistent inflation, geopolitical tensions and varying levels of consumer confidence characterised 2024, the next 12 months will be marked by continued economic uncertainty, but also a number of promising growth opportunities.

In mature markets such as the US and Europe, stubbornly high inflation rates continue to pressurise consumer purchasing power – but emerging economies appear more buoyant.

India, South Africa and several countries in Southeast Asia and Latin America are benefitting from the positive impact of younger consumers, expanding middle classes and increased urbanisation – with a growing preference for premium and innovative products, alongside a greater willingness to explore new drinking occasions and categories.

“The drinks industry faces a subdued but opportunity-rich environment in 2025,” says Emily Neill, Chief Operating Officer Research and Operations. “Channel shifts offer a note of optimism, with the on-premise showing nascent growth in some key markets, and digital platforms wielding a growing influence on both online and offline purchasing decisions.

“As these key trends shape the beverage alcohol landscape in 2025, they start to frame some key growth segments and markets for the industry. Navigating these will require growth opportunities to be assessed on a market, category and price-tier basis, with a more nuanced approach than was previously needed.”

IWSR has identified five key trends shaping the opportunities for beverage alcohol in 2025:

1: New moderation strategies

“Drinkers are now more habitual in their control of alcohol intake,” says Susie Goldspink, Senior Insights Manager – RTDs and No/Low Alcohol. “This trend spans all age groups, regions and demographics, highlighting moderation as a mainstream cultural phenomenon, rather than a trend limited to younger LDA+ consumers.”

Moderation strategies implemented by consumers include:

• Lighter consumption: There has been a significant increase in the proportion of ‘light’ drinkers – those with low consumption frequency and/or intensity. This group is now the largest segment across the 15 key markets covered by IWSR’s Bevtrac consumer research, surpassing ‘medium’ and ‘heavy’ drinkers.
• Temporary abstinence: This trend is gaining momentum, especially among younger LDA+ consumers. In India, 72% of more affluent drinkers in 10 major cities reported abstaining for a period. In South Africa, Mexico and Brazil, over half of consumers report similar behaviour.
• Single-category occasions: Consumers are increasingly opting to limit themselves to a single type of beverage on any given occasion, often reducing the amount they drink as well. Across the 15 Bevtrac markets, the average number of beverage categories consumed per occasion was 1.8 in 2024 – compared to 2.4 in 2023.