No-alcohol drinks have moved from a small alternative category into a measurable part of beverage planning. Across IWSR’s leading markets, no-alcohol volume and consumer participation are rising, while UK evidence shows that bars still have room to improve availability, especially on draught. The figures below separate measured results from forecasts and identify the geography and period behind each benchmark.
Contents
- Global market growth
- The US bar opportunity
- UK benchmarks for pubs and bars
- What customers are buying
- Alcohol strength and product composition
- Consumer segments and moderation
- Availability and channel signals
Global market growth
The strongest broad benchmark comes from IWSR’s top 10 no/low-alcohol markets, which account for approximately 70% of global no/low volume. Those markets were worth more than US$13 billion in 2023, and no/low volume grew 5% during that year. The same IWSR analysis recorded an 8% compound annual growth rate for no-alcohol volume from 2019 through 2023. (IWSR, 2023)
The forward-looking figures remain substantial, but they are forecasts rather than completed results. IWSR forecasts total no/low volume to grow at a 6% CAGR from 2023 through 2027, with no-alcohol volume specifically growing at a 7% CAGR. In 2023 research, new entrants represented 17% of no-alcohol consumers in the previous year, a useful indicator that category growth was not limited to a fixed group of long-time buyers. (IWSR, 2023 and 2023–2027 forecast)
The latest supplied IWSR benchmarks show acceleration in the leading markets. No/low volume grew 13% in 2024, while another IWSR measure reported 4% volume growth and 6% value growth in 2024. The leading 10 markets added 61 million no-alcohol consumers between 2022 and 2024. These measures use different reported comparisons, so they should be read as separate indicators rather than combined into one growth rate. (IWSR, 2024; IWSR, 2024)
For bar managers, the practical signal is a widening customer base alongside a category that is gaining value as well as volume. A no-alcohol list can therefore be evaluated as a beverage segment with its own mix, price points, and service standards rather than as a single substitute item.
The US bar opportunity
The US is one of the clearest growth markets in the available figures. US no-alcohol volume rose 29% in 2023 compared with 2022. IWSR forecasts the US no-alcohol market to reach close to US$5 billion by 2028, with an 18% volume CAGR from 2024 through 2028. (IWSR, 2023 and 2024–2028 forecast; IWSR, 2024–2028 forecast)
The forecast is not uniform across formats. US no-alcohol RTDs and alcohol-adjacent products are each forecast to exceed a 20% volume CAGR from 2024 through 2028. No-alcohol spirits are forecast to grow at an 18% volume CAGR, and no-alcohol beer at a 17% volume CAGR through 2028. (IWSR, 2024–2028 forecast)
Premium positioning is especially important in the US data. Premium-plus products represented 75% of US no-alcohol beer volume in 2023, 87% of no-alcohol wine volume, and 93% of no-alcohol spirits volume. A bar menu that treats the category as exclusively low-priced may therefore miss the strongest existing product tier. (IWSR, 2023)
No-alcohol spirits show concentrated regional momentum. US no-alcohol spirits posted a five-year CAGR exceeding 60% through 2024. California and New York together represented more than one-third of US no-alcohol spirits volume in 2023; over the five years through 2023, California recorded a 47% CAGR and New York a 44% CAGR. (IWSR, five years through 2024 and 2023)
Another IWSR analysis reported US no-alcohol beer volume growth of 23% in 2024 and forecast that the category would add US$2 billion in value over the following five years. (IWSR, 2024 and five-year forecast)
UK benchmarks for pubs and bars
The UK provides a useful operating benchmark for licensed venues. UK total no/low market volume in 2024 was more than 200% of its 2023 level, according to a comparison reported by IWSR. UK no-alcohol beer volume grew 20% in 2024 versus 2023, while total UK no-alcohol volume is forecast to grow at a 7% CAGR from 2024 through 2028. (IWSR, 2024 and 2024–2028 forecast)
The category is already visible within the wider beverage market. UK no-alcohol beer exceeded 2% of total beverage-alcohol market sales in the latest preliminary data cited in 2025. UK no-alcohol spirits were expected to grow 7% in 2024 versus 2023, while no-alcohol wine volume grew 8% over the same comparison. (IWSR, latest preliminary data cited in 2025 and 2024)
Premium products also lead the UK beer segment: premium-and-above brands accounted for about 66.7%, or two-thirds, of UK no-alcohol beer volume in the latest data cited in 2025. That supports giving premium no-alcohol beer visible menu placement instead of hiding it in a miscellaneous soft-drinks section. (IWSR, latest data cited in 2025)
What customers are buying
The Great Britain Kantar dataset for the year ending September 2022 shows a clear product hierarchy by NoLo volume:
| Product type | Share of NoLo product sales by volume |
|---|---|
| Beer | 58.0% |
| Cider | 19.2% |
| Wine-based drinks | 14.4% |
| Spirits | 8.4% |
Beer therefore supplied the largest share, while cider and wine-based drinks together represented a substantial secondary opportunity. Spirits had the smallest share in this dataset, although the US figures show much faster growth and a higher premium-plus mix for that format. The GB shares are from the Kantar dataset summarized in the UK government evidence review and should not be treated as current global shares. (UK government evidence review, year ending September 2022)
The same dataset recorded 28,399,844 litres of alcohol-free NoLo beer, 8,310,334 litres of alcohol-free NoLo cider, 4,269,559 litres of alcohol-free NoLo wine-based drinks, and 877,663 litres of alcohol-free NoLo spirits. These are reported volumes for that dataset and period, not estimates of total on-premise sales. (UK government evidence review, year ending September 2022)
For a bar, the mix suggests a practical starting point: make beer easy to find, provide a credible cider or wine-based option, and use spirits-led serves where the menu and customer base support them. The figures do not establish an ideal number of listings, but they do show why a single product cannot represent the whole category.
Alcohol strength and product composition
Strength labels matter because “no-alcohol” and “low-alcohol” do not describe one uniform product. In England, products at or below 1.2% ABV accounted for 1.9% of total off-trade alcohol sales in the year ending September 2022. Within that measure, alcohol-free products at or below 0.05% ABV accounted for 1.4%, de-alcoholised products above 0.05% and at or below 0.5% ABV accounted for 0.5%, and low-alcohol products above 0.5% and below 1.2% ABV accounted for 0.1%. (UK government evidence review, year ending September 2022)
The volume composition was also uneven. Alcohol-free products made up 72.2% of NoLo volume, compared with 23.4% de-alcoholised and 4.5% low-alcohol volume in the Great Britain dataset. NoLo spirits were the exception in their own category: 81.9% were de-alcoholised by volume and 18.1% were alcohol-free. (UK government evidence review, year ending September 2022)
These distinctions are useful for menus and staff training. A team should be able to explain the stated ABV accurately, particularly when a guest asks for a completely alcohol-free drink rather than a low-alcohol alternative.
Consumer segments and moderation
Moderation is a significant part of the demand picture. About 75% of legal-drinking-age Gen Z consumers in the US reported moderating alcohol consumption in a 2024 analysis. The comparable moderation rate across 10 key no/low markets was 64%. (IWSR, 2024 analysis)
In the US, Millennials accounted for 45% of no-alcohol consumers in 2023, while legal-drinking-age Gen Z accounted for 17%. The age profile is therefore broader than a single emerging generation. (IWSR, 2023)
IWSR’s cited wave comparison found that the share of US drinkers consuming no-alcohol rose from 6% to 13% between 2023 Wave 2 and 2024. Across 15 Bevtrac markets, the comparable share rose from 21% to 24%. In late-2023 research across the top 10 no/low markets, 44% of no/low consumers said they had switched to no-alcohol from another non-alcoholic drink, compared with 29% who said they had replaced a full-strength alcohol product. (IWSR, 2024 versus 2023 Wave 2 and late 2023 research)
The switching result is especially relevant to bars: some no-alcohol orders are additions to an existing soft-drink occasion, not direct substitutions for beer, wine, or spirits. Menu placement and presentation can help the venue serve both use cases without assuming every customer is replacing an alcoholic drink.
Availability and channel signals
UK survey and channel data show both demand and an availability gap. In a 2020 UK adult survey, 27% reported consuming a NoLo drink in the previous 12 months. Among those UK adults who had consumed NoLo, 41% said it led them to reduce alcohol intake or stop drinking alcohol completely; 44% reported unchanged consumption and 6% reported increased consumption. (UK government consultation, 2020 survey)
NoLo sales represented 1.1% of total alcohol volume sold in the cited 2021 analysis, yet only 2% of pubs and bars offered a NoLo beer on draught. The figures come from different measures and periods, so they do not establish a sales target. They do show that draught availability was limited in that analysis. (UK government consultation, 2021 analysis)
Channel structure also matters. Brick-and-mortar retail accounted for 85% of UK no-alcohol volume in 2022, while UK no-alcohol ecommerce held a share of about 10%. For low-alcohol volume, brick-and-mortar retail accounted for 73% in the same 2022 analysis. These are retail channel benchmarks, not pub sales, but they indicate that physical availability remained the dominant route to purchase. (IWSR, 2022)
For bar operators, the clearest measurable opening is straightforward: offer recognizable products, label ABV precisely, include more than one format, and consider whether a draught option is practical. The market data shows growth; the venue benchmarks show that availability has not necessarily caught up.