Revealed: Countries that eat pasta most in the world

The highest per capita consumption of pasta in the world is in Tunisia with 25 kg followed by Italy with 22 kg, according to figures released by Euromonitor.

With Egypt, Nigeria and India emerging as the fastest growing markets for pasta, the figures showed that 64 per cent of global pasta sales were generated in top 10 countries.

Among the regions, Western Europe leads followed by Latin America, North America, Middle East and Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific and Australasia.
Italy remains the top country for sales of pasta globally, according to Euromonitor data.

However, pasta has been facing turmoil mainly in terms of value and volume, given that the product per se is mature and does not allow major product innovations in the short term.

On the other hand, the increasing popularity of gluten free, high fibre and organic pasta show there are opportunities for growth in the land of pasta.
In fact, according to Euromonitor data, the highest growth in organic packaged food over 2010-2015 stemmed from organic pasta, a category that has a special position in Italian cuisine.

Sales of regular pasta suffered over 2010-2015, with value sales falling at a CAGR of 1 per cent, while organic pasta saw value sales rise at a CAGR of 27 per cent over the same period.
Euromonitor’s Senior Food Analyst Jack Skelly believes gluten-free, organic and high fibre pasta offer opportunities for growth for pasta manufacturers in mature markets.

“Despite the challenges faced by pasta manufacturers, opportunities for growth remain. Those challenges concern the spectre of sclerotic sales growth which looms in core markets, and the difficulty of convincing people to choose pasta instead of noodles and rice in peripheral markets.

Companies might need to split their priorities by region, and look for value sales growth in saturated markets, whilst making long-term commitments in those countries where pasta is more of a novelty, particularly in Asia Pacific, as well as in the Middle East and Africa.

"In mature markets, it is important to ride the health trend and target fast growing categories such as high fibre, organic and gluten free pasta. Licencing and new technologies can also offer opportunities of innovation and growth,” he said.

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