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This marked a 2.8 percent increase from 4.92 billion in 2016, according to the World Instant Noodles Association (WINA).
Vietnam had held the fourth spot since 2012, but this was taken by India last year, with a consumption of 5.4 billion packs.
2017 Top 10 global demand of instant noodles countries
Other countries in the top five were China (38.9 billion packs); Indonesia (12.6 billion); and Japan (5.6 billion).
With population over 93 million, Vietnam is second among 2017’s top 3 countries with the highest per capita instant noodles consumption at 53.5 servings; behind South Korea with 73.7 servings and above Nepal with 51.1 servings.
In 2016, the average Vietnamese person gobbled 53 packs of instant noodles, higher than Indonesians at 49, Japanese at 44 and Chinese people at 38.
Local enterprises have tapped into this huge market by partnering with overseas companies, increasing the options manifold for the Vietnamese consumer.
Domestic instant noodle enterprises have reported rising sales, reflecting the increasing consumption.
A representative of the Acecook Vietnam Joint Stock Company told VnExpress that the company has seen an eight percent year-on-year increase in revenues in the first half this year.
Similarly, the Colusa – Milike Food Joint Stock Company reported a net profit of $12.1 million in the first six months, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year.
Globally, some 100 billion servings of instant noodles were sold in 2017, an average of 270 million packages consumed per day.
FoodDive, an online news site in food industry, quoted an IMARC Group report as saying the global instant noodles market value reached $40 billion in 2017 and is expected to reach $55 billion in 2023.