29 Notable Beverage Consumption Statistics

People need to drink beverages in order to survive. There’s not getting around the fact that the human body needs water. We can get some of the water from the foods we eat, but even if someone is just consuming tap water, they are still consuming a beverage.

Americans today are drinking more water from all sources [58 gallons/year] than they are drinking soft drinks [44 gallons/year].

Beverage Consumption

In looking at these beverage consumption statistics, there is definitely a focus on achieving greater health. For more than 20 years, Americans were drinking soft drinks more often than any other beverage. Now soft drinks have seen a 17% drop in overall consumption and there doesn’t seem to be anything that will stop this trend from continuing.

What Are People Drinking Today?

• Bottled water has nearly doubled in total consumption to an average of 21 gallons a year.
• The annual soda sales in the US are more than 5x as big as bottled water at $75.7 billion a year.
• Coca-Cola holds 13% of the bottled water market. PepsiCo has another 10% of the market.
• In 2011, some 403 servings of 8-fluid-ounce beverages were consumed per person in the United States.
• The annual Coca-Cola consumption worldwide amounted to about 92 servings of finished 8-fluid-ounce beverages.

Isn’t it a little disturbing how much influence two major companies have over our beverage consumption habits? It is even occurring in the bottled water industry. Even though the average person will just purchase the cheapest bottled water there is, 1 in 5 people are choosing a Coca-Cola or PepsiCo product. When you add in the juices, teas, soft drinks, and energy drinks that people are consuming on a regular basis, many of our dietary choices are being provided by these two companies. People might be choosing healthier options, but money is still being spent on something that many can have for free.

Other Drinks Are Being Consumers As Well

• 87.6%. That’s the percentage of people ages 18 or older reported that they drank alcohol at some point in their lifetime in 2012.
• 56.3% of adults report that they drank at least one alcoholic beverage in the past month.
• In 2006, alcohol misuse problems cost the United States $223.5 billion.
• The US fruit juice and smoothie market is estimated to have a net value of $23 billion.
• In 2009, the world consumed 117.7 billion gallons of industrialized still drinks.
• 23.5 million gallons of beverages were consumed in the juice category.
• Powdered drinks account for 35 million gallons of the global beverage industry on an annual basis.
• The average American will consume about 2.82 gallons of wine per year, which accounts for another 750 million gallons of beverages that are consumed.
• It is estimated that 68% of adolescents, 30% of adults and 18% of children under the age of 10 consume energy drinks.
• Energy drinks contribute to 43% of total caffeine intake in children.
• 71% of adults aged 18-29 who consume energy drinks will mix them with alcoholic beverages.
• 40% of the 4,854 calls made to poison information centers in the last year involving energy drinks also involved alcohol.

People might be drinking water more than any other beverage in the world today, but there are still some fairly popular options that are available as well. Many people drink alcohol on a regular basis, especially beer and wine. Fruit juices and smoothies are an incredibly active and growing beverage industry. Even powdered drinks are seeing spikes in use from previous years. An interesting thought on the increased amount of beverages that are being consumed: is it because the human population is growing at an exponential rate? Or could the effects of global warming be having an effect on how many fluids need to be consumed on a regular basis?

Why Are High Levels of Soda Consumption Dangerous?

• Just one extra can of soda per day can add as much as 15 pounds to your weight over the course of a single year.
• High fructose corn syrup, in the form of soda, has become the #1 source of calories in the United States.
• 1 can of Coca-Cola contains 10 teaspoons of sugar.
• If a $0.01 tax per ounce of soft drinks were enacted on a global basis, it would result in a collection of $15 billion annually.
• 9.6 billion cases of soft drinks were sold in 2008, with Coca-Cola and PepsiCo accounting for 7 million of those cases.
• The Coca-Cola Company is the only company in the United States that is allowed to import coca plants because they can be turned into cocaine.
• 94%. That’s the percentage of the global population that is able to recognize the branding of the Coca-Cola company.
• 1 billion. That’s the number of Coca-Cola products that are consumed ever day.
• In an attempt to compete with the market dominance of Coca-Cola, PepsiCo has created more than 50 different varieties of soft drink flavors.
• All of the top flavors of soft drinks, as well as coffees and teas, contain caffeine. 90% of Americans regularly consume this supplement.
• 21% of the sugar in the American diet comes from a soft drink.

Just drinking two soft drinks every day can increase a person’s risk of developing pancreatic cancer by 87%. Even just one soft drink per day will increase the risk of metabolic syndrome by 44%. That doesn’t even take into account the acids and sugars that help to degrade tooth enamel and promote poor oral health. There’s even a direct link to poor oral health and heart disease. The good news is that people are consuming more water than ever before and are opting for healthier beverages. The bad news is that multiple gallons of soda are still being consumed every day and could be a leading factor in the development of high obesity rates.