May 21/Alexandria, Va./International Bottled Water Association -- The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), in conjunction with Beverage Marketing Corporation (BMC) has released 2011 bottled water statistics, compiled by BMC, a research, consulting, and financial services firm dedicated to the global beverage industry (www.beveragemarketing.com). The new BMC data show the overall consumption of bottled water has increased by 4.1%, building on 2010’s solid growth.
In 2011, total U.S. bottled water consumption increased to 9.1 billion gallons, up from 8.75 billion gallons in 2010. While all other major beverage categories such as carbonated soft drinks, milk and fruit beverages continue to suffer declines in consumption, bottled water rates head in the opposite direction. Per-capita consumption is up 3.2% in 2011, with every person in America now drinking an average of 29.2 gallons of bottled water last year.