One in four pasta dishes in the world is made in Italy. And carbonara is very popular with foreigners

One plate in four of the 14 million tonnes of pasta consumed in the world is Italian: there seems to be no crisis in the supremacy of Italian pasta, which - as per tradition - will celebrate World Pasta Day on 25 October as the absolute protagonist. Italians are confirmed as the biggest consumers, with over 23 kilos per capita per year (for a national total of over 1.7 million tonnes), ahead of Tunisia (17 kilos), Venezuela (15) Greece (12.2) and Peru (9.9).

Italy is the leader for production (with over 3.9 million tonnes, -1.9% on 2022), ahead of the USA, Turkey and Egypt, with a turnover of 8.1 billion euro (+5.4%).Export accounts for 56% of total production, with over 2.2 million tonnes of pasta exported (-3.7%) and a value of 3.8 billion euro (+3%).

Recalling these firsts is Unione Italiana Food, which in a survey conducted with the Touring Club Italia analyses how Italian pasta is perceived (and obviously eaten) by foreign tourists visiting our country. On the podium of tastes is spaghetti alla carbonara, followed by lasagne alla bolognese and pasta al pomodoro. The ranking continues with spaghetti alle vongole, bucatini all'amatriciana, cacio e pepe (5.3), tortellini in brodo (4.3), pasta alla norma (3.8), trofie al pesto (3.4), and orecchiette con cime di rapa (2.9).
The format most appreciated by foreign tourists is long pasta, with 46% of preferences.

"The survey was carried out on a panel of 100 restaurateurs in Italy's most popular tourist cities to explore which pasta dishes most appeal to foreigners on holiday and how their relationship with the protagonist of our tables is evolving," explain Uif. The result is "Pasta Journey, the Grand Tour of Pasta" a collection containing the Top10 pasta dishes most ordered by foreigners when they come on holiday to Italy, recounted in order of ranking and accompanied by a recipe. The dossier, designed and created for tourists visiting our country, can be downloaded in digital version, in English and Italian, at www.welovepasta.it'.

More than one in two restaurateurs (54%) stated that at least half of their customers are foreigners andaccording to 7 out of 10 restaurateurs, the food and wine culture of foreign customers has increased. Among the information most frequently requested by tourists, in first place was the origin of the ingredients (28%), followed by the history of the dish (25%) and, with a bit more of a gap, the method of execution (14%).