Pint over rosé: Why French are drinking more beer than wine

France is drinking more beer than wine. Known for its wine culture, the French are changing their drinking habits.

France is consuming less wine as young people seek other drinks, including non-alcoholic beverages. Besides the rising cost of living, changing lifestyle habits are also deciding what the French are drinking.

Let’s take a closer look.

More beer, less wine for French

Beer has overtaken wine as the French people’s preferred drink for the first time in history.

Beer consumption surpassed that of wine by ten million litres in 2025, according to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV).

The French people drank 22 million hectolitres of wine last year, compared to the 22.1 million hectolitres of beer reported by Brewers of France.

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This was the lowest consumption of wine in 70 years in France, a 3.2 per cent fall from 2024.

Wine in French culture continues “a long-term downward trend that began several decades ago”, according to the report.

People taste wine and cheer during the official launch of the 2025 edition of the "Beaujolais Nouveau" wine in the streets of Lyon, central-eastern France, on November 19, 2025. File Photo/AFP

In the 1960s, annual per-capita wine consumption in the country was 127 litres, which has come down to only 40 litres today, reported The Times.

Over the past 30 years, wine consumption has dropped by 37 per cent, while France’s population has increased by about 15 per cent.

Despite the decline, France remained the largest consumer of wine in Europe last year, but its figures dropped 7.2 per cent from the five-year average, according to Independent.

France also continues to be the world’s leading wine exporter, with international sales worth around €11 billion every year.

Why is France drinking less wine?

There are a number of factors that are denting the French’s love for wine. One reason pointed out by researchers and retailers is that households are getting smaller.

Martin Cubertafond, of Sciences Po university, told The Times newspaper that wine is usually taken out for formal family meals at home, but the number of single-parent families had grown. Over two-thirds of French households now comprise only one or two individuals.

Big Sunday lunches with the entire family gathering and sharing a bottle of wine are becoming less common. “Wine isn’t an option with takeouts or lunches that take less than 30 minutes,” Cubertafond said.

Sociologist Joan Cortinas told France Télévisions, “Society has become more tertiary. Often people do not even eat properly at midday anymore.”

US tariffs have also put pressure on the global wine trade, according to the OIV.

“What we can see in the 2025 data is a sector that's reacting to real-time impacts of US tariff policies, but also adapting to some longer-term changes in terms of climate and consumption,” OIV Director General John Barker was cited by Independent.

How beer has become the drink of choice

Beer is cheaper than wine and also no formal occasion is needed to drink a pint.

For cash-strapped young adults, beer has become a go-to option in France as more people are saving wine for special occasions.

Gen Z is also drinking less alcohol than their elders and when they are indulging, they are choosing beer.

Élodie, a 24-year-old intern at an advertising agency, told The Times, “I drink more beer than wine. I do like wine with a good dinner, but beer is better when you’re just meeting friends for a drink. I might occasionally have a glass of white wine or rosé, but red wine is too strong. I would only ever drink it with a meal. Beer is more relaxing after work.”

Beer consumption has mostly stayed the same at around 33 litres per person annually. Cheaper prices, lower alcohol levels and the expansion of craft brewing over the years have made it more favourable for the French, as per The Connexion. 

“The world of beer has evolved more in the last 20 or 25 years than in the previous hundred,” beer expert Raphaël Marfaing told France Télévisions, referring to the surge of microbreweries and a wider variety of flavours and styles.

The French are also increasingly enjoying non-alcoholic beer, whose consumption jumped 12 per cent last year, with 600,000 litres consumed in July and August 2025 alone.

An employee holds non-alcoholic beers at "Le Paon qui boit" (The Drinking Peacock) alcohol-free wine and liquor store in Paris, France, November 18, 2022. File Photo/Reuters

Health concerns are also making the French put down their wine glasses. However, alcohol-free wine has not yet lured them as successfully as non-alcoholic beer.

Today, over half of French people say they do not drink alcohol every week, according to France Télévisions.

Still, more than 90 per cent of French people consider wine as a vital part of their culture and a “noble” product that enhances the country’s image overseas, as per a recent survey.

With inputs from agencies