Korea's drinking culture is undergoing a structural shift as more young people cut back on alcohol or abstain entirely, forcing the liquor industry to reposition its products from intoxicants to lifestyle beverages.
Spending at drinking establishments by consumers in their 20s fell 20.9% year-on-year in 2025, according to an NH NongHyup Bank trend report released Tuesday. Data from the National Tax Statistics Portal showed domestic liquor shipments declined to 3.15 million kiloliters last year from 3.38 million kiloliters in 2019.
The median monthly binge drinking rate stood at 33.8% last year, marking two consecutive years of decline, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. Monthly drinking rates also fell across all 17 provinces and metropolitan cities without exception.
The shift is being driven by consumers in their 20s and 30s. On university campuses, "sober curious" lifestyles involving deliberate alcohol moderation and "zebra striping," or alternating between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, are spreading rapidly. Analysts point to growing restrictions on alcohol sales at campus festivals and a post-pandemic decline in late-night bars as additional factors accelerating the downturn.
The liquor industry has taken a direct hit. HiteJinro and Lotte Chilsung Beverage both posted declines in revenue and operating profit last year, with operating profit falling by double digits. Oriental Brewery saw a slight increase in revenue but a decrease in operating profit.
The breakthrough is coming in the non-alcoholic and low-alcohol segment. E-mart's sales of non-alcoholic and low-alcohol beer rose 21% year-on-year last year, contrasting with a 6.4% decline in regular beer sales over the same period. The number of restaurants carrying non-alcoholic beer reached roughly 55,000 nationwide at the end of last year, up more than 70% from 32,000 a year earlier.
HiteJinro has rolled out "zero" lineups for its flagship Hite and Terra brands, stripping out alcohol, calories and sugar. Lotte Chilsung Beverage lowered the alcohol content of its Saero soju to the 15-proof range and expanded the lineup of its Soonhari fruit-flavored carbonated liquor.
Kloud Non-Alcoholic won a gold rating at Belgium's Monde Selection Beer Awards, and its sales last year increased 40% compared with its predecessor product.
Oriental Brewery has expanded the sales channels for Cass All Zero from online to hypermarkets and convenience stores, targeting consumers with a "four-free" strategy that removes alcohol, sugar, calories and gluten. Homeplus launched Titan Zero, a fully non-alcoholic product, as an exclusive offering, entering the ultra-low-priced non-alcoholic beer market.
Experts say the shift in liquor consumption trends is structural, making it a practical response for the industry to lower alcohol content and diversify non-alcoholic product lineups.
