China’s Alcohol Market: The 2025 Cooldown

How changing attitudes, wellness priorities, and “emotion-first” behaviour are reshaping China’s alcohol landscape.

China’s Alcohol Market: A Slowdown with Deeper Signals

China’s alcohol market has entered a new phase, one defined less by volume and more by purpose. While categories from beer to baijiu have seen a visible decline in production capacity over the past decade, the real story unfolding is behavioural, not numerical.

From 2015 to 2024, overall alcohol output dropped by 35.53%, with beer, baijiu, and wine all contracting in different ways. Yet behind the shrinkage is an even more consequential trend: Chinese drinkers are making very different decisions about why, when, and how they consume alcohol.

Young people drink less but drink better. Social drinking is shifting towards lighter, lower-pressure formats. And the meaning of alcohol itself is undergoing a cultural rewrite, from a symbol of obligation to a tool of emotional connection.

These shifts are now reshaping everything from category growth to packaging innovation.

A New Generation Steps Back — And Rewrites the Rules

1. Drinking Less for the Body, More for the Mind

Chinese consumers, especially under 35, are reducing alcohol consumption not because of declining purchasing power, but because health and emotional wellbeing now dominate decision-making.

The report notes that alcohol has traditionally played multi-layered roles, from ritual to relief to social belonging. But today’s drinkers are more conscious of what they put into their bodies, more sensitive to hangovers, and more aware of long-term health risks.

At the same time, they are not quitting alcohol, they are reframing its purpose. They drink to relax rather than to get drunk; to unwind after work rather than push through a banquet; to have a light moment with friends rather than perform social obligations.

This “less but better, less but happier” mindset is one of the quiet forces pulling overall alcohol sales downward while pushing niche, flavour-driven spirits forward.

2. The Decline of Heavy Social Obligations

One of the most dramatic behavioural changes is the erosion of the traditional “pressure-driven” drinking culture.

For years, China’s alcohol consumption was anchored in work dinners, networking occasions, and multi-layered toasts; formats that rewarded volume, not preference. But Gen Z and young millennials openly reject this culture.

They prefer:

• light companionship (轻量化陪伴) over large banquets

• micro-gatherings over forced toasts

• “drink if you like” over hierarchical pressure

• balanced evenings over “face-driven” overconsumption

With workplace culture itself undergoing transformation, hybrid schedules, smaller teams, and more boundaries, traditional drinking occasions have simply shrunk.

This structural decline in ceremonial drinking is one of the biggest contributors to the softening market.

3. The Emotional Consumer Is Now in Charge

The Whisky L! report’s deep dive into the psychology of drinking shows that emotional needs now sit at the heart of drinking behaviour, not face, not formality.

Consumers drink for:

• emotional release after stress

• self-reward

• comfort

• connection with trusted friends

• personal rituals at home

This emotional turn has two effects on the market:

• Lower total volume: emotional drinking tends to be low-alcohol, casual, and small-portion. A “highball at home” replaces a full bottle at a dinner table.

• Higher expectations for flavour, design, and personal meaning: people want drinks that “feel like them”, not drinks that impress others.

Why Sales Are Down: The Structural Drivers Behind the Cooldown

1. Production and Consumption Have De-Coupled

China’s alcohol production has declined significantly since 2015, but not because of a lack of demand, rather because the old demand has faded, and the new demand has not fully stabilised.

Beer is down, baijiu is down, wine is down. The market is consolidating around fewer, more meaningful drinking moments, not mass occasions.

2. Small Moments Replace Big Occasions

Instead of large tables of 10 with multiple rounds, today’s consumers favour:

• home drinks

• weekend nights with two to three friends

• light bites

• cocktails

• café-bar hybrid spaces

These settings simply do not support the same volume of alcohol consumption.

3. The Premium Paradox: Better Taste, Fewer Bottles

Consumers are willing to pay more per bottle, but buy fewer bottles a year. Premiumisation raises value, not volume. This leads to negative growth in litres consumed even when revenue grows in certain subcategories.

4. Rising Wellness Culture

Wellness culture is reshaping alcohol decisions. While consumers still enjoy drinking, they also want control.

Across all alcohol categories:

• Total production in 2024 is only 64.47% of 2015 levels.

• Beer production is down 25.33% since 2015.

• Baijiu production has dropped a significant 68.43% .

These declines mirror a national shift toward lighter, more mindful consumption, especially among urban youth who balance gym routines, TCM wellness, and lower-sugar lifestyles.

5. The Competition: Tea, Coffee, Zero-Alcohol, and RTDs

The alcohol market no longer competes only with itself.

Zero-alcohol beers, soda cocktails, teas, energy drinks, and functional tonics are capturing “light social” moments that would once belong to beer or baijiu. Consumers are not simply drinking less whisky. They are drinking across more categories with more intention.

The Quiet Rise of Whisky, Even as the Macro Market Softens

Within this cooling market, whisky stands out as a category that continues to attract interest, not through volume, but through cultural relevance.

Whisky is benefitting from three structural forces identified in the report :

1. A Younger, More Knowledgeable Consumer Base

18–30-year-olds are now the main whisky audience. Women account for 35% of new whisky users.These consumers value flavour, story and authenticity, not showmanship.

2. The “Opening the Bottle” Revolution

Whisky is shifting from trophy to table. Better packaging, smaller formats, and instant retail access make it easier to drink rather than store.

Source: COTSWOLDS Distillery

3. Home Mixology Culture

Searches and content related to whisky cocktails on Douyin and Xiaohongshu have surged significantly. Highballs, Mizuwari, and simple home recipes are replacing the old idea of “whisky = neat + expensive”.

Whisky is not growing explosively, but it is growing meaningfully.

Looking Ahead: What Brands Need to Understand Now

1. Wellness is now part of the drinking equation - Brands must respect lighter consumption patterns and support balance, not volume.

2. Social drinking is fragmenting - Design products and rituals for small gatherings, personal rituals, and at-home experiences.

3. Emotional value is the new premium - Stories, identity, craft, and comfort matter more than alcohol percentage or age statements.

4. Education drives loyalty - Consumers who understand flavour, process, and craft become long-term supporters. This explains the rise of whisky education programmes, tastings, and guided content.

5. Diversity will define the next decade - China’s future alcohol industry would not be dominated by one category, but by many small, authentic, culturally expressive categories.

The real decline is not in passion, but in old ways of drinking. China’s young drinkers are rewriting the rules with health, emotion, individuality, and balance at the centre.

For brands, the opportunity is clear: Win the emotional moment, not the empty glass.

Reach out to our team to explore how your brand can connect with China’s new generation of mindful drinkers, and to design strategic solutions that reflect the evolving behaviours, values, and expectations shaping the country’s next decade of alcohol consumption.