On World Pasta Day, a survey ranks the Top 10 most popular pasta dishes with tourists in Italy.

World Pasta Day, a day when pasta fans gather in restaurants, at home or online to celebrate their favourite dish, has been marked on 25 October every year since 1995.

Social media plays a big role in the celebrations, with users posting their own recipes on social media alongside the hashtag #WorldPastaDay and following the live cooking events and new pasta trends courtesy of We Love Pasta (@welovepasta_it) and IPO (@Int_Pasta_Org).

It is no surprise that one of the countries most enthusiastic about the annual day is Italy where tourists arrive in their tens of millions every year to sample the Italian cuisine - the best in the world according to Taste Atlas.

But what are the most popular dishes among foreign visitors in restaurants in Italy?

In top place is Spaghetti alla carbonara, followed by Lasagne alla Bolognese, Pasta al pomodoro, Spaghetti con le vongole and Bucatini all'amatriciana.

In fifth position is Spaghetti cacio e pepe, followed by Tortellini in brodo, Pasta alla norma, Trofie al pesto and Orecchiette alle cime di rapa.

The ranking is the focus of a survey titled Pasta Journey, the Grand Tour of Pasta, published by Unione Italiana Food and created with Touring Club Italia, to mark the 26th edition of World Pasta Day.

An increasing number of "foodie tourists" arriving in Italy plan their itinerary to include regional delicacies and seek out authentic restaurants, according to the survey.

Just over 70 per cent of the Italian restaurateurs surveyed noted a heightened level of food and wine culture among their tourist customers whose most frequent questions relate to the origin of the ingredients, the history of the dish and how the dish is cooked.

In terms of the pasta itself, the survey showed that 46 per cent of foreign tourists opt for long pasta, 16 per cent prefer short pasta and 38 per cent do not express an oninion.

• Italy celebrates Carbonara Day on 6 April

Italy is the leading producer of pasta (more than 3.9 million tons), ahead of the US, Turkey and Egypt, generating a turnover of €8.1 billion.

More than half of Italy's pasta production is destined for foreign countries, with one in four plates of pasta eaten in the world produced in an Italian pasta factory.

Unsurprisingly, Italy is also the country that eats the most pasta, consuming 23.3 kg per capita per year, ahead of Tunisia (17 kg), Venezuela (15 kg), Greece (12.2 kg) and Peru (9.9 kg).

Promoted by Unione Italiana Food and the International Pasta Organisation, World Pasta Day will be celebrated officially in Philadelphia this year.