A survey found that Koreans ate 79 servings of ramen per person in 2024. It was the second-highest figure among countries worldwide.
According to the World Instant Noodles Association (WINA) on Jan. 9, Korea consumed about 4.1 billion servings of ramen in 2024, or 79.2 servings per person based on a population of 51.75 million.
Korea's ramen consumption has steadily increased from 3.79 billion servings in 2021 to 3.95 billion in 2022 and 4.04 billion in 2023. In 2024, ramen consumption rose 1.4% from the previous year.
Korea kept the world No. 1 ranking in per capita ramen consumption through 2020, but Vietnam has led since 2021. Vietnam's population of 100 million consumed 8.14 billion servings of ramen in 2024, or 81 servings per person. However, Vietnam's per capita consumption fell by seven from 2021 (88 servings).
After Korea and Vietnam, countries with high per capita ramen consumption were Thailand (57), Nepal (54), Indonesia (52), Japan (47), Malaysia (47), Taiwan (40), the Philippines (39), and China (including Hong Kong, 31) in that order.
Global ramen consumption also increased 2.4% from the previous year to a record high of 123.07 billion servings in 2024. Analysts say demand rose because ramen is relatively inexpensive and convenient amid worldwide inflation.
By country, China and Hong Kong together were the world's largest market (No. 1) with 43.8 billion servings. That is 10.7 times Korea's 4.1 billion servings.
They were followed by Indonesia (14.37 billion), India (8.32 billion), Vietnam (8.14 billion), Japan (5.9 billion), the United States (5.15 billion), the Philippines (4.49 billion), Korea (4.1 billion), Thailand (4.08 billion), and Nigeria (3 billion).