The bar chart illustrates how much soft drinks and bottled water people consumed on average in five different countries in 2002.
Overall, the average consumption of soft drinks was highest in the USA, while Germany recorded the highest consumption of bottled water. By contrast, Japan had the lowest figures for both beverages. It was also noteworthy that soft drinks were more popular than bottled water in Australia and the USA, while the opposite was true in Italy and Germany.
Focusing first on Australia, Italy and Germany, Australians consumed approximately 100 litres of soft drinks per person, compared with around 75 litres in Italy. However, bottled water consumption in Italy was considerably higher, at around 125 litres per person, five times the figure for Australia (approximately 25 litres). Germany recorded the highest figures for bottled water with roughly 175 litres per person, while its soft drink consumption stood at around 140 litres.
Turning to Japan and the USA, Japan recorded the lowest consumption of both beverages, at approximately 45 litres of soft drinks and 20 litres of bottled water per person. In contrast, the USA had the highest soft drink consumption, at nearly 200 litres per person, more than four times the figure for Japan. Nevertheless, bottled water consumption in the USA stood at only around 50 litres, although this was still twice the figure for Japan