This year has been designated as 'Mineral Water Year' in Austria, and the latest figures from the country's industry association Forum Mineralwasser show that there is much for bottled water producers to be happy about.
Per capita consumption reached an average of 90 litres in Austria last year, up from 85 litres in 2001, taking total consumption to 723 millions litres, a 12.6 per cent increase on the previous year.
Most encouraging for local producers is that 713 million litres of this total came from Austrian sources, with 90 per cent of this (623 litres) drunk in Austria itself. While just 60 million litres were exported, roughly 9 per cent of total output, this was nonetheless a major increase on the previous year, when exports totalled 27 million litres.
Imported water accounted for around 70 million litres last year, the Forum's data showed.
Friedrich Scheubrein, spokesman for the Forum, said that the target in 'Mineral Water Year' was to push domestic per capita consumption up to 100 litres for the first time, and that a number of events were planned to drive the health and quality message across to consumers.
With growing awareness of the potential health benefits of wine, consumers are increasingly looking for other products which offer a similar benefit - and natural mineral water fits this bill perfectly, said Scheubrein. As well as offering essential minerals such as magnesium and calcium, water has zero calories and is recommended as part of a healthy diet.