Zenith's sixth report on the burgeoning East Europe bottled water market is now fully updated. The new 2008 report sets out comprehensive market and segment totals alongside detailed rankings and analysis of the industry's main operators.

East Europe Bottled Water 2008 contains over 120 pages of commentary, charts and tables on the plain bottled water markets of Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine. A concise executive summary and five pages of overview commentary provide a synthesis of key indicators as well as the main features and trends across the 15 national markets.

Zenith's 2008 East Europe Bottled Water report includes:

• Detailed insight into East Europe market trends across 15 countries
• Full market commentary, covering consumption volume, leading countries, rates of growth, still vs sparkling water, packaging formats, industry structure and leading industry operators, and forecasts to 2012

In addition, comprehensive tables and charts explore, by country:

• Market value in € million, still water percentage share, small pack vs water cooler formats, consumption per person, natural vs processed water, packaging, top 30 national bottled water operators, top 10 East Europe bottled water groups, top 30 national operators, and full forecasts to 2012

New for 2008:

• Macroeconomic trends per country to qualify forecasting.
• Listings of smaller, local bottlers at a country level.
• All 2007-2008 news on investment, new product development, transactions included in company commentaries.

The East European bottled water market has made considerable gains since 2002, growing by 62.6% in absolute volume terms to reach 13,188 million litres by the end of 2007. This represents compound annual growth of 10.2% over the period. Average bottled water consumption per person has reached 41.9 litres – almost twice the level reported in 2001.

The strongest growth over the last six years took place between 2001 and 2002. Less favourable weather conditions contributed to a fairly dramatic slow-down during 2004 but the market started to pick up again in 2005. During 2007, the market grew by 1,256 million litres. This represents 11% growth on 2006 levels – the third slowest year of growth in the last eight years.

The concept of buying bottled water appears to be widely accepted. Producers and associated bodies have stressed the health benefits of drinking bottled water, helping to promote the industry further. While in some countries it is often the only available alternative to poor quality tap water, in others, drinking bottled water has become a fashion statement among wealthier consumers.

Zenith International estimates the combined value of the 15 bottled water markets covered by this report to have reached €5,243 million by the end of 2007.

Zenith International reports offer you the most reliable market figures and in-depth analysis of trends. This comes from a bottom up approach to the research process, and detailed discussions undertaken with industry players.

Zenith's East Europe Bottled Water 2008 report is broken down into 3 main sections:

• East Europe market commentary provides in-depth analysis of trends in such areas as industry structure, segment dynamics and forecasts.
• Comprehensive tables and charts present consumption trends from 2002 to 2007, country rankings, market value, sparkling and still water consumption, bottled vs bulk water, natural vs processed water, types of packaging, leading companies, leading bottled water operator groups within the region and forecasts of consumption to 2012.
• 15 country profiles contain expert market interpretation, tables and charts.