In France it used to be wine – nowadays the waiter is more likely to be pouring a mineral water to go with your lunch than a glass of red.
The Economist recently told the story of how younger generation is rejecting old Mediterranean habits.
In 2022 roughly 10% of French people drank wine every day, down from half in 1980. Back in 1960 the French drank an average of 116 litres of everyday wine per person. Between 2000 and 2018 that shrank from 28 litres to just 17. A glass of wine, let alone the once-familiar pichet, is an increasingly rare sight at the lunch table.
A health-conscious younger generation is drinking less, reported The Economist. “A quarter of French 18- to 34-year-olds say they never drink alcohol. Fully 39% of under-35s say that they do not drink wine, next to only 27% of the over-50s. Le dry January has entered the national lexicon. No- and low-alcohol drinks are spreading.”
