Vietnam enters the world's top four instant noodle consumers with an annual consumption of more than 5 billion units, according to the Japan-based World Instant Noodles Association.

Statistics released later last year by the Ministry of Industry and Trade showed that the country had 50 producers, resulting in an annual output of 50 billion packets of instant noodles and that an average Vietnamese person consumed one to three units of instant noodles per week.

Also according to the Japanese association, global sales of instant noodles have totaled over 100 billion units per year.

Vietnam ranks fourth with 5.1 billion units after China (44 billion units), Indonesia (14.1 billion units), and Japan (5.4 billion units).

"The results show that instant noodles have become a global standard dish," said Norio Sakurai, an official with the Osaka-based association, told AFP.

"We think global sales will continue growing particularly in some developing nations."

Instant noodles were invented in Japan by Momofuku Ando, founder of major noodle maker Nissin Foods, in 1958.