Sobriety is taking over the world. The amount of alcohol consumed globally is probably in decline for the first time in history. In rich countries, many members of Gen Z – born after the late 1990s – are shunning alcohol entirely: 30 per cent of Americans in their 20s did not drink in the previous year. Even in France, young professionals no longer have a pichet of wine with lunch.

Elites seem especially likely to snub the bottle. Three of the past four American presidents are teetotal (Barack Obama enjoyed a martini). In Silicon Valley temperance is a status symbol. Marc Andreessen, an investor, quit alcohol in 2022. Sam Altman of OpenAI writes about “how much changed when people stopped drinking alcohol all day”. Elon Musk refers to alcohol as a “legacy drug”. Dinner meetings with founders are fuelled by green tea.

The Economist