According to the World Instant Noodles Association (WINA), global demand for instant noodles rose by 3.4 percent from 94.95 billion packets/cups in 2007 to 98.2 billion packets/cups in 2011.

China alone consumed some 43.2 billion packets/cups in 2011, a 7.4 percent decrease over 2007. The figure accounted for about 44 percent of the world's total consumption.

It was followed by Indonesia (14.5 billion), Japan (5.5 billion), Vietnam (4.9 billion), U.S. (4 billion), South Korea (3.6 billion), India (3.5 billion), Thailand (2.9 billion), the Philippines (2.8 billion) and Brazil (2.1 billion).

The cuisine is gaining increasing popularity in other markets outside the Asian-Pacific region, thanks to its advantages in minimum cooking time, longer shelf-life, multi flavors, delicacy and convenience.

The latest industry report by Global Industry Analysts Inc. estimated that by 2017, global sales of instant noodles will surpass 154 billion packets.