Korea, which had maintained the world's top spot in per capita ramen consumption for eight consecutive years from 2013 to 2020, fell to second place last year.
The new country that ranked first was Vietnam.
Nongshim announced on the 30th (today) that Vietnam's annual per capita ramen consumption was 87, taking the first place, citing '2021 World Ramen Market Data' published by the World Ramen Association (WINA).
During the same period, Korea's annual per capita consumption of ramen was 73, ranking second.
In third place was Nepal, which consumed 55.
According to the survey, per capita ramen consumption in Vietnam has been steadily increasing every year, from 55 in 2019, 72 in 2020, and 97 in 2021.
The size of the ramen market in Vietnam is also growing rapidly, rising from 5 billion units in 2019 to 7 billion units in 2020 and 8.6 billion units in 2021, rising to the third place in the world.
In terms of the total ramen market by country as of last year, China ranked first with annual consumption of 44 billion, and Indonesia ranked second with 13.3 billion.
An official from Nongshim explained, "This is the result of consumers' purchasing power increasing as Vietnam is recording high economic growth rate, and the tendency to eat easily at home rather than eating out due to the corona virus has strengthened."
On the other hand, it was found that there were differences in the type of ramen preferred by region and culture.
Although most countries prefer bagged noodles, Nongshim analyzed that container noodles are sold more in Mexico and Japan.
In particular, in Mexico, container noodles accounted for 89% of the total ramen market.
In the Philippines and India, small-sized ramen noodles are popular.
It is known that ramyun is mainly consumed as a snack in these countries where various snacks are enjoyed.