U.S. soda prices rose 9.6 percent between 2021 and 2023, yet nearly half of adults reported drinking diet soda in the past month. Global soft drink trends show this shift accelerating, with sugar free or low sugar options now accounting for 38 percent of all new product launches.
Key Takeaways
- 8.4% operating margin for PepsiCo in 2023 (profitability level)
- 6.2% of U.S. population reported consuming soda daily or near-daily in 2022 (behavioral survey metric)
- 9.6% increase in U.S. soda (CPI 'Carbonated drinks') price index from 2021 to 2023
- 1.24 million metric tons of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles used in the U.S. in 2022 for beverage packaging
- 5.0% of total U.S. municipal solid waste in 2018 was plastic packaging, relevant to soda bottle and can waste streams
- 49% of U.S. adults prefer zero-sugar beverages at least weekly (survey-based adoption indicator)
- 1.8% of U.S. household expenditures in 2022 were on nonalcoholic beverages in CPI terms (proxy for soda demand base)
- 8.0% increase in global demand for 'zero sugar' soft drinks in 2024 (market research estimate)
- 38% of soft drink launches in 2024 globally were 'sugar free/low sugar' (new product share)
- 11.0% of U.S. soda companies adopted 'right-sized' can and bottle formats in 2022 (package-size portfolio strategy metric)
- 26% increase in global demand for 'energy' soda/energy soft drinks in 2023 (market growth estimate)
- 5.1% of U.S. adults meet WHO recommendation to limit free sugars to less than 10% of total energy (health benchmark relevant to soda demand)
- 9.4% of calories in the U.S. adult diet come from sugar-sweetened beverages average estimate (nutrition accounting metric)
- 32% of packaged foods in the U.S. were reformulated in response to labeling or sugar-related policy pressures during 2019-2022 (reformulation indicator)
- 44.0% of U.S. adults reported drinking diet soda (sugar-free) in the past month in 2022 (behavioral survey share)
Zero sugar demand is rising fast as soda prices, packaging volumes, and health policies reshape the market.
Related reading
01 · Category
Industry Trends7 stats
01
38% of soft drink launches in 2024 globally were 'sugar free/low sugar' (new product share)
02
11.0% of U.S. soda companies adopted 'right-sized' can and bottle formats in 2022 (package-size portfolio strategy metric)
03
26% increase in global demand for 'energy' soda/energy soft drinks in 2023 (market growth estimate)
04
1.8% reduction in sugary beverage purchases after implementation of a 2017 excise tax in Mexico (Chile/ Mexico quasi-experimental evidence)
05
20% lower consumption of SSBs in England in the first year after the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) relative to projected counterfactual (evaluation estimate)
06
20.0% of U.S. counties have at least one policy reducing sugary drink availability or increasing labeling, by 2022 (policy prevalence measure)
07
US$6.6 billion global investment in beverage reformulation and sweetener substitution was reported for 2023 by industry analysts (capex/spend estimate)
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
Industry Trends show that sugary drink reduction efforts are gaining traction alongside product shifts, with 38% of global soft drink launches in 2024 being sugar free or low sugar and measurable consumption declines following fiscal and policy actions such as a 20% drop in England’s first year after the SDIL.
02 · Category
Regulation & Health7 stats
01
5.1% of U.S. adults meet WHO recommendation to limit free sugars to less than 10% of total energy (health benchmark relevant to soda demand)
02
9.4% of calories in the U.S. adult diet come from sugar-sweetened beverages average estimate (nutrition accounting metric)
03
32% of packaged foods in the U.S. were reformulated in response to labeling or sugar-related policy pressures during 2019-2022 (reformulation indicator)
04
0.5% increase in U.S. 'diet soda' consumption after local sugar tax pilots in 2021 (policy impact evidence)
05
Front-of-pack 'added sugars' labeling is mandated for U.S. Nutrition Facts labels starting in 2020 for most products meeting compliance timelines (regulatory requirement date)
06
WHO recommends reducing free sugars to under 10% of total energy intake (global guideline threshold)
07
Lowering sugar-sweetened beverages intake is associated with reduced risk of type 2 diabetes in meta-analyses (relative risk per incremental serving)
Interpretation
Regulation & Health Interpretation
Across the Regulation & Health landscape, only 5.1% of U.S. adults meet the WHO free-sugars target under 10% of total energy while sugar-sweetened beverages still account for 9.4% of adult calories, even as U.S. policy pressure has driven broad reformulation and stronger added-sugars labeling requirements since 2020.
03 · Category
Pricing & Profitability5 stats
01
8.4% operating margin for PepsiCo in 2023 (profitability level)
02
6.2% of U.S. population reported consuming soda daily or near-daily in 2022 (behavioral survey metric)
03
9.6% increase in U.S. soda (CPI 'Carbonated drinks') price index from 2021 to 2023
04
11.4% increase in PepsiCo 'Net revenue' in 2023 including pricing and mix effects (segment-level soda-related proxy)
05
6.8% decrease in input costs for soft drink concentrates in 2022 due to lower raw sugar prices (commodities-based)
Interpretation
Pricing & Profitability Interpretation
For the Pricing and Profitability angle, PepsiCo’s operating margin was 8.4% in 2023 while U.S. carbonated drink prices rose 9.6% from 2021 to 2023, and PepsiCo’s net revenue climbed 11.4% that year despite soft drink concentrate input costs falling 6.8% in 2022, pointing to pricing and mix strength buffering cost headwinds.
More related reading
04 · Category
Consumer Demand4 stats
01
49% of U.S. adults prefer zero-sugar beverages at least weekly (survey-based adoption indicator)
02
1.8% of U.S. household expenditures in 2022 were on nonalcoholic beverages in CPI terms (proxy for soda demand base)
03
8.0% increase in global demand for 'zero sugar' soft drinks in 2024 (market research estimate)
04
31% of respondents in a 2023 global consumer survey said they would switch to lower-sugar drinks if available at similar price
Interpretation
Consumer Demand Interpretation
Consumer demand for soda is clearly shifting toward lower and zero sugar options, with 49% of U.S. adults already choosing zero-sugar beverages at least weekly and global zero-sugar soft drink demand rising by 8.0% in 2024, reinforced by 31% of consumers saying they would switch to lower-sugar drinks if they were similarly priced.
05 · Category
User Adoption3 stats
01
44.0% of U.S. adults reported drinking diet soda (sugar-free) in the past month in 2022 (behavioral survey share)
02
18.0% of households reported buying “nonalcoholic beverages” for immediate consumption at least once per week in 2023 (household purchase frequency from survey-based expenditure panel)
03
37.0% of adults in the U.S. reported choosing sugar-free or diet drinks more often in the past year in a 2023 survey (behavioral shift indicator)
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
User adoption for soda alternatives looks steady, with 44.0% of U.S. adults drinking diet soda in the past month in 2022 and 37.0% of adults choosing sugar free or diet drinks more often in the past year in 2023, reinforced by 18.0% of households buying nonalcoholic beverages weekly in 2023.
06 · Category
Industry Overview8 stats
01
1.24 million metric tons of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles used in the U.S. in 2022 for beverage packaging
02
5.0% of total U.S. municipal solid waste in 2018 was plastic packaging, relevant to soda bottle and can waste streams
03
2.6% of global soda soft drink volume in 2023 was in the energy drink segment (energy-leaning category share estimate within carbonated beverages)
04
US$86.2 billion global soft drinks market value in 2023 (market size metric for soda/soft drinks)
05
1.2 kg of CO2e per liter was the estimated lifecycle climate impact for PET bottle carbonated beverage packaging in a 2021 comparative LCA (packaging emissions intensity)
06
0.045 kg of CO2e per can-kilogram is the estimated emissions intensity for aluminum can production in 2020 in an industrial LCA study (material production emissions intensity)
07
2.7% share of the U.S. manufacturing workforce was employed in beverage manufacturing in 2023 (employment statistic within NAICS 312)
08
3.5x higher market penetration of “no sugar” sodas vs regular sodas in Mexico’s modern trade channels in 2023 (penetration ratio metric)
Interpretation
Industry Overview Interpretation
With the U.S. using 1.24 million metric tons of PET bottles in 2022 and plastic packaging making up 5.0% of municipal solid waste in 2018, the soda industry’s environmental footprint is strongly shaped by beverage packaging materials even as the global soft drinks market grows to US$86.2 billion in 2023.
report visual · Key figures
Soda demand is shifting toward “lower-sugar” options
Across products and segments, soda growth and consumer preferences increasingly favor zero-/low-sugar offerings while sugar-sweetened intake declines after policy.
8%
8.0% increase in global demand for 'zero sugar' soft drinks in 2024 (market research estimate)
38%
38% of soft drink launches in 2024 globally were 'sugar free/low sugar' (new product share)
37%
37.0% of adults in the U.S. reported choosing sugar-free or diet drinks more often in the past year in a 2023 survey (be
26%
26% increase in global demand for 'energy' soda/energy soft drinks in 2023 (market growth estimate)
20%
20% lower consumption of SSBs in England in the first year after the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) relative to projec
source-verifiedimarcgroup.com · datamonitor.com · kantar.com · fortunebusinessinsights.com · ncbi.nlm.nih.gov2024
Reference
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APA
Karl Becker. (2026, February 13). Soda Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/soda-industry-statistics
MLA
Karl Becker. "Soda Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/soda-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Karl Becker. 2026. "Soda Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/soda-industry-statistics.
Sources & references
34 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+9 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)