ObjectiveThis study aims to investigate the consumption of packaged drinking water in sixteen provinces in China, and provide scientific basis for related food safety risk assessment. Methods The data was from the resident food consumption survey by China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, including 43 319 residents above 3 years old from 16 provinces during 2013-2014. The database establishment and data analysis were conducted by SAS 9.4. χ² test and Kruskal-Wallis test were used to analyze the consumption and influencing factors of barreled drinking water and bottled drinking water. Results The consumption percentage of barreled water was 26.2% and the consumption percentage of bottled water was 14.4%. The average consumption of bottled water was 249.7 mL/d and the average consumption of bottled water was 56.4 mL/d, the average consumption of barreled water for consumers was 951.6 mL/d, and the average consumer consumption bottled water was 392.2 mL/d. The consumption percentage, consumption of whole population and consumers for barreled drinking water and bottled drinking water in male were higher than that in female. The consumption percentage, consumption of whole population and consumers for barreled drinking water in population with income under 10 000 yuan were higher than that in other groups. The consumption percentage, consumption of whole population and consumers for bottled drinking water in population with income over 30 000 yuan were higher than that in other groups. The consumption percentage, consumption of whole population and consumers for bottled water in urban areas were higher than those in rural areas, while it was the opposite for barreled drinking water. In addition, the consumption were also affected by age, education level and other factors. Conclusion The consumption and consumption percentage of drinking water were relatively low in China. The consumption of drinking water varies among different populations in China, the consumption of barreled drinking water and bottled drinking water was related to age, education, family income and region factors.