Bottled water to overtake fizzy drinks as world's favourite packaged drink

Fiona Baillie, an analyst at market research group Canadean which came up with the figures, asserted that nearly one-third of the world's population residing in these countries the impact is noteworthy and packaged water is often necessary in areas susceptible to flooding or other natural occurrences, as these often lead to water contamination and the spread of diseases, the Independent reported.

Bottled water is likely overtake fizzy drinks this year, as over 233 billion litres of the stuff is expected to fly off shelves around the world compared with 227 billion litres of soda. According to research by the Canadean market research group, emerging economies will drive the trend, as consumption in India, China, and Brazil is up around 10 per cent.

Marco Settembri, chief executive of waters at Nestle, which sells Perrier-Vittel, told the Financial Times that there is a huge growth in the water category in the US, driven by concerns about health and obesity.

According to Beverage Digest, the figures come as 2014 marked a decade since the consumption of soft drinks in the US started to decline, falling by 14 per cent.