The Indonesia packaged water market is experiencing major growth, driven by evolving consumption patterns and market structure. Still water dominates the landscape, accounting for over 70% of product volume, while emerging segments like sparkling and functional waters are gaining traction. The market is facing a major challenge of tap water quality, with over 300 out of 1,000 Indonesians experience waterborne illness annually. Retail channels are also diversifying with supermarkets and hypermarkets hold the largest share. The convenience-store, HoReCa, and online sales channels are contributing, with e commerce pushing 15–20% annual growth in packaged beverages.
What’s Driving the Packaged Water Market in Indonesia?
- Urban dwellers show higher proclivity for convenience-led consumption, especially ready-to-drink formats like packaged water. As per Indonesia’s Central Statistics Agency, over 57% of Indonesia’s citizens now live in urban areas. Additionally, Indonesia added more than 10 million people to its middle-income bracket between 2019 and 2024. This rise in disposable income, particularly among Gen Z and millennial consumers, is shifting demand toward branded, premium, and functional waters, including vitamin-infused, alkaline, and flavored varieties.
- Indonesia’s National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM) has significantly tightened its oversight over drinking water quality and labelling standards. In 2024, approximately 15% bottle company faced temporary suspensions due to non-compliance with microbiological and chemical contamination thresholds. These enforcement measures have created an uneven playing field where compliant, branded players are rewarded with consumer trust and expanded retail partnerships.
Market competition
The Indonesia packed water market is highly fragmented, with legacy multinationals, agile domestic players, and emerging regional challengers dominating the landscape. The key players include Aqua, Le Minerale, and Cleo. Aqua remains Indonesia’s largest packaged water brand, especially dominant in the 19L gallon segment. In late 2024, Aqua Indonesia unveiled a new lighter-blue Aqua gallon bottle which was its first major redesign in over a decade to reinforce hygiene and modern appeal. Le Minerale has emerged as Aqua’s top challenger, particularly among urban millennials. However, it drew public backlash over its use of disposable PET gallon bottles, with a Change.org petition amassing over 50,000 signatures in protest. Meanwhile, Cleo registered double-digit volume growth, primarily through aggressive pricing and expansion of local production units in 2024.
Plastic Pollution & Regulatory Pressure
The Indonesia packaged water market is facing a major challenge of plastic pollution. Indonesia produced over 4.22 million tonnes of plastic waste in 2024, equivalent to 15.3 kg per person, of which nearly 44% was mismanaged. Thus, placing Indonesia second only to China as a contributor to ocean pollution. In early 2025, Bali banned single-use plastic bottles under 1 L, and prohibited their production and sale, expressing local government and public concern over accumulating plastic waste, especially in tourist hotspots. With household consumption of plastic packaged water exceeding 20 billion liters annually and Indonesia’s waste system unable to manage nearly half of its plastic output, the packaged water sector must confront sustainability challenges head-on.
Future Outlook
The Indonesia packaged water market is set to undergo major transformation in upcoming years. Brands are gaining unprecedented access to peri-urban and secondary cities, with over 13,000 kilometers of new rural roads built by 2024 and ongoing projects like the Bali MRT. These logistical improvements are enabling broader distribution of packaged water, particularly single-serve bottles and functional formats, into markets previously underserved. Consumer behaviour is also tilting toward health-conscious and premium products. As of 2024, 52% of consumers aged 18–34 in Greater Jakarta reported monthly purchases of functional water and sparkling water search queries on e-commerce platforms surged by 38% year-over-year.
Consultant at Nexdigm In their latest publication “Indonesia Packaged Water Market Outlook to 2030: By Product Type (Still Water, Sparkling Water, Functional Water, Flavored Water, Alkaline Water), By Packaging Format (PET Bottles, Glass Bottles, Bulk Gallons, Cans, Eco-Packaging), and By Distribution Channel (Modern Trade, Traditional Trade, HoReCa (Hotels, Restaurants, Cafés), Institutional & B2B Supply)” believe that by expanding distribution to Tier II/III cities using localised water sources and developing premium glass-bottled water line, businesses can gain competitive advantage in Indonesia packaged water market.