BOTTLED WATER MARKET GROWTH POTENTIAL

The bottled water market in India is growing faster than the demand for soft drinks. The market is expected to grow at a rate of 20% per year. Sales are expected to reach 914.9 billion litres by 2023.

The market for bottled water in China was expected to grow by 58% by 2019. Consumption per person reached 50 litres in 2014, outpacing the rest of the Asian Pacific region (34 litres) and an increase over 19 litres per person in 2010. The market’s value has grown over 91% since 2010 and has grown to over $US 22 billion in 2014 and $914.9 billion by 2023.

The main drivers in the growth of bottled water in Japan is shifting consumer trends, concern about the quality of tap water, and the reliability of bottled water. Most apartment buildings are planned to have bottled water vending machines in their lobbies since they are very concerned about the safety of their water. Japan is a country that has been affected by natural disasters; the demand for bottled water increased 25% after several severe droughts as well as after the earthquake and tsunami of 2011.

Consumption did not decrease back to earlier levels due to consumers’ dependence on the better taste, safety and reliability of bottled water.

Bottled water consumption in the GCC is already the highest in the world at over 250 litres per person per year, which was about 21.4 billion litres in 2021, growing at a CAGR of 5.5%, and is projected to attain almost 29.8 billion litres in 2027. This trend is expected to continue due to the exploding population growth (including expatriates), increasing disposable income, greater health consciousness, and a fast-expanding hotel and restaurant scene.

Data Bridge Market Research analyses that the bottled water market was valued at USD 283.6 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach the value of USD 476.45 billion by 2029, at a CAGR of 6.7% during the forecast period of 2022-2029.

According to the National Department of Mineral Production, Brazil will become one of the highest consumers of bottled water in the world in the near future. 80% of the market is for still water and Brazilians are requesting premium brands of water in restaurants and grocery stores. Other drink categories such as tea, soft drinks and energy drinks showed negative growth rates in Brazil, but bottled water continues to show a stable 4% sales growth due to people being concerned with healthy lifestyles and remaining hydrated.

Euromonitor International reports that the African country of Nigeria had sales of bottled water rise by 7% in 2016 to reach 28 billion litres, and this growth rate is expected to continue due to the growing population and lack of potable water. The country of South Africa also experienced 7% growth rates in the sales of bottled water due to extreme droughts and increased demand, according to Euromonitor International. Strong growth in the sales of bottled water is also expected in north African countries such as Algeria, due to consumers paying more attention to the quality of water they drink, the increase of the food service industry, and increasing health and wellness trend in cities.

Domestic, non-sparkling water is the largest and strongest segment of the U.S. bottled water market.

In 2019, bottled water ranked as the largest beverage category by volume in the United States for the fourth consecutive year, following a remarkable, more than decades-long streak of vigorous growth.

According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation (BMC), total bottled water volume grew from 13.8 billion gallons in 2018 to 14.4 billion gallons in 2019, an increase of nearly 4 percent. Apart from a couple of small reductions during the Great Recession years of 2008 and 2009, years when most other beverage categories also contracted due to the financial crisis, bottled water volume has increased every year from 1977 to 2019.

The sustained growth in per capita consumption indicates that consumers see bottled water as a healthy alternative to other packaged beverages. In 2019, per capita of bottled water consumption approached 44 gallons in 2019, while average intake of carbonated soft drinks dipped below 37 gallons. Consistent with that data, sales revenues for the U.S. bottled water market in 2019 were $19.4 billion in wholesale dollars, a 5.6% increase over the previous year.

Nearly all of the bottled water sold in the U.S. is sourced domestically. In fact, imported bottled water accounts for only 1.9% of the U.S. market. The vast majority of bottled water companies in the U.S. are small, community-based companies using local water sources and distributing their products within an average radius of 300 miles from their bottling facilities.

Despite the bottled water industry’s size, the amount of water actually sold is relatively tiny, compared to tap water volumes. U.S. public water systems supply more than 1 billion gallons of tap water an hour, every hour of the day.

The total amount of bottled water Americans buy in one year would only supply U.S. tap water needs from midnight until 9 a.m. on January 1.