Obesity by Country: Rates in 196 Countries (2027)

Key points

Adult obesity rates by country range from about 2% to over 75%. Vietnam and Ethiopia sit at the bottom of the list; American Samoa, Tonga and Nauru sit at the top.
The world average is 16.2% of adults and 8.2% of children and teens aged 5 to 19, according to the latest WHO figures. In 1990 the adult average was 6.7%.
Pacific islands, the Caribbean, the Gulf and North Africa have the highest rates. East Asia, South Asia and much of Africa south of the Sahara have the lowest.
The United States, China and India have the most people living with obesity, because size of population matters as much as the rate.
In 155 of 196 countries, more women than men live with obesity. In most of Central and Eastern Europe it is the other way round.
Adult obesity has not fallen in a single country since 1990. The rise has slowed in many rich countries but is still speeding up in many poorer ones.

How do obesity rates differ around the world?

Obesity rates by country differ more than almost any other health measure: the share of adults with a BMI of 30 or more is roughly thirty times higher in the top country than in the bottom one. Where you live shapes what you eat, how much you move and what care you can get.

Every figure on this page comes from one consistent set of estimates, so you can compare countries fairly. Our page what is obesity explains the condition itself; this page focuses on the map.

A quick tour of the regions

The Pacific islands have the highest rates on Earth. In several small island nations, more than six out of ten adults live with obesity, and rates for children are also the highest in the world.

The Caribbean and Central America follow. The Bahamas (48.3%), St. Kitts and Nevis (46.7%) and Belize (43.4%) are all in the global top 15, and the rates for women there are often above 50%.

The Middle East and North Africa form a third high-rate belt. Iraq (39.7%), Jordan (35.4%) and Libya (33.7%) are close to the Gulf states, where Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia each have around four in ten adults living with obesity.

The Americas as a whole are high. Chile (40.5%), Mexico (37.4%), Argentina (37.2%) and Uruguay (34.9%) have rates close to the United States, and Brazil has reached 30.1%.

Europe sits in the middle, with a clear east–west pattern. Hungary (31.4%), Romania (32.4%) and Croatia (30.8%) are well above France (11.2%), Switzerland (11.3%) and Italy (14.0%).

East and South Asia have the lowest adult rates of any large region. Japan is at 5.9%, South Korea at 8.4%, India at 8.0% and China at 9.3%. Pakistan is a notable exception at 24.5%.

Africa south of the Sahara mostly has low rates, often below 10%. Southern Africa is different: in South Africa 31.8% of adults live with obesity, almost all of the difference coming from women.

Why do obesity rates differ between countries?

Countries differ mainly because their food supply, their daily routines and their economies have changed at different speeds, not because people in one country have less willpower than in another. For what drives weight gain in one person, see the causes of obesity.

Food systems and the nutrition transition

The biggest driver is a change in what people eat. Over the past half-century, diets in country after country have moved towards processed foods, meals eaten away from home, cooking oils and sugary drinks. Nutrition researcher Barry Popkin calls this the nutrition transition.

This change arrived early in North America and parts of Europe, and much later in Asia and Africa. That timing explains part of the map today: countries that went through it first tend to have higher rates, and countries going through it now are seeing the fastest rises.

When cheap, energy-dense food is everywhere and well advertised, people end up eating more without noticing it. Our page on the food environment looks at how shops, prices and marketing shape daily choices.

Income: obesity moves from rich to poor

The link between money and obesity flips as a country gets richer. In low-income countries, obesity is most common among wealthier, urban adults, especially women, because they can afford more food and do less physical work.

A study of household surveys from 103 low and middle-income countries found that this changes as national income grows. Above a certain level of national wealth, the poorest households become the most likely to live with obesity, as is already the case in rich countries.

Cities, villages and daily movement

City life is often blamed. Yet a Nature study of more than 112 million adults found something different: more than half of the global rise in average BMI came from rural areas, and in some low and middle-income regions over 80%.

As farming becomes mechanised and processed foods reach villages, rural daily life now needs less physical work while food becomes easier to buy. In many middle-income countries, the old gap between city and countryside has closed or even reversed.

Cars, office jobs and screens shrink daily movement further, which is one reason we value walking so much.

Culture, gender roles and biology

Social norms play a part too. In some places a fuller figure is admired as a sign of health or prosperity, and changing gender roles affect who stays active. Both can push rates up, often more for women than for men.

Biology also contributes. Some populations carry gene variants linked to higher BMI, and people of South Asian origin tend to develop health problems at a lower BMI than people of European origin. Genes alone cannot explain fast changes over a few decades, though; environments changed much faster than genes. Our page on genetics and biology explains more.

Which countries have the highest obesity rates?

American Samoa (75.9%), Tonga (73.8%) and Nauru (71.4%) have the highest adult obesity rates in our 196-country table. Tuvalu (65.1%) and Samoa (64.3%) complete the top five, so the first five places all belong to Pacific island nations.

A few tiny Pacific territories, such as the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau, are not included in this table.

Among larger countries, Egypt ranks highest at number 11 with 43.9% of adults. It is followed in the top 20 by Puerto Rico, Qatar, the United States at number 16 (41.0%), Chile, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Why are rates so high in the Pacific?

Pacific Islanders have seen obesity and diabetes rise faster over the past three decades than almost anywhere else, according to a review in Current Diabetes Reports. The same high burden is found among Pacific communities who have moved to the USA, Australia and New Zealand.

Researchers point to several things at once: a fast move away from traditional foods and physical work, island economies that rely on imported food, and possibly genetic factors. Small islands also have limited health services to respond.

The top 20 in one list

Here are the 20 countries and territories with the highest adult rates, using the latest figures:

American Samoa – 75.9%
Tonga – 73.8%
Nauru – 71.4%
Tuvalu – 65.1%
Samoa – 64.3%
French Polynesia – 49.2%
Micronesia – 48.6%
Bahamas – 48.3%
St. Kitts and Nevis – 46.7%
Kiribati – 45.6%
Egypt – 43.9%
Belize – 43.4%
Puerto Rico – 42.4%
Marshall Islands – 42.0%
Qatar – 42.0%
United States – 41.0%
Chile – 40.5%
Palau – 40.5%
Kuwait – 40.4%
Saudi Arabia – 40.1%

In 20 countries, at least four in ten adults now live with obesity, and in 63 countries it is at least three in ten.

Which countries have the lowest obesity rates?

Vietnam has the lowest adult obesity rate in the world at 2.4%, followed by Ethiopia (2.9%), Timor-Leste (3.6%), Eritrea (4.3%) and Madagascar (4.5%). Only six countries have rates below 5%.

The countries near the bottom fall into two groups. Most are low-income countries in Africa and Asia, such as Burundi, Rwanda, Niger and Chad, where many people still do heavy physical work and where underweight remains a bigger problem than obesity.

The second group is small but interesting: high-income countries with low rates. Japan (5.9%) and South Korea (8.4%) are the clearest examples. Their eating habits, daily walking and food policies are often studied for lessons, although no single factor explains the difference.

Low adult rates do not mean there is no problem. In Vietnam, 7.3% of children and teens live with obesity, three times the adult rate, which suggests the next generation is growing up in a very different food environment.

Asian populations tend to develop diabetes and heart disease at a lower BMI. Some Asian countries therefore use lower cut-offs for obesity in their own statistics, and their national figures can look higher than the international ones on this page. Read more on BMI and waist size.

Which countries have the most people living with obesity?

The United States has the largest number of adults living with obesity, an estimated 115 million, followed closely by China with about 110 million and India with about 87 million. Rate and number tell very different stories.

China and India have some of the lowest rates in the world, 9.3% and 8.0%. But with such large populations, even a low share means tens of millions of people. A small rise in the rate there adds more people than the whole population of many countries.

The ten countries with the most adults living with obesity, by our estimate from the latest WHO rates and World Bank population figures, are:

United States – about 115 million adults
China – about 110 million
India – about 87 million
Brazil – about 51 million
Pakistan – about 39 million
Mexico – about 37 million
Egypt – about 35 million
Indonesia – about 25 million
Russia – about 21 million
Türkiye – about 19 million

Together these ten countries account for more than half of all adults with obesity worldwide. Most of them are middle-income countries, which shows how far obesity has moved beyond the wealthy West.

We are writing a detailed page for each of the 50 countries with the most people living with obesity. They cover local data, causes, national policy and where to find help, and they appear in the list below this article.

Obesity in men and women by country

Worldwide, women are more likely than men to live with obesity, but the size and direction of the gap depend heavily on the country. In 155 of 196 countries the rate is higher for women, and in 40 it is higher for men.

The largest gaps, with far more women than men affected, are found in Southern Africa, the Caribbean and North Africa. In South Africa, 47.5% of women live with obesity against 14.5% of men; in Jamaica the figures are 50.1% and 19.5%; in Egypt 57.1% and 30.6%.

A review in Advances in Nutrition links these gaps to social conditions, not just biology. The move away from physical work has cut activity among women most in many developing countries, and in some cultures a larger body is valued as a sign of health, fertility or wealth.

The opposite pattern is common in Central and Eastern Europe and in parts of East Asia. In Czechia, 30.5% of men live with obesity against 22.1% of women, and in Japan the rate for men (8.0%) is more than double that for women (3.7%). Western European countries such as Germany, Spain and Italy also have slightly more men than women affected.

Child and teen obesity rates by country

Obesity among children and teens aged 5 to 19 follows the adult map in broad terms, but rises faster. The world average is now 8.2%, up from about 2% in 1990.

Tonga has the highest rate at 32.5%, ahead of Nauru (30.5%), Palau (28.6%) and Chile (28.3%). Chile is the only country outside the small island states where more than a quarter of young people live with obesity. In the United States it is 21.8%.

The lowest rates are found in Malawi and Timor-Leste (0.8%), followed by Burkina Faso, Gambia and Uganda, all around 1%. These are countries where thinness and stunting in children are still far more common.

Some of the sharpest rises are in Asia. In China, the share of young people with obesity grew from 0.9% in 1990 to 12.7% today, in Indonesia from 0.8% to 10.3%, and in Pakistan from 0.5% to 8.0%.

UNICEF reported recently that, for the first time, more school-age children and teens worldwide live with obesity than are underweight. Obesity is now more common than underweight in every region except Africa south of the Sahara and South Asia.

Childhood obesity has its own causes and its own approach to help. Our page on obesity in children explains what parents and carers can do without blame.

How have obesity rates by country changed since 1990?

Adult obesity has risen in every one of the 196 countries since 1990; not one country has a lower rate today. The world average has gone from 6.7% to 16.2% in that time.

The largest increases in percentage points are in the Caribbean, Latin America and the Pacific. The Bahamas went from 18.8% to 48.3%, Chile from 13.4% to 40.5%, and Brunei from 8.1% to 37.1%.

A major NCD-RisC analysis in Nature, covering data up to the latest figures, shows that the speed of change now differs sharply. In most high-income western countries, the rise in children slowed decades ago and then levelled off. In adults the same happened about ten years later, with a possible small fall in a few countries such as Spain.

In most low and middle-income countries the opposite is true: the yearly increase has stayed the same or grown, even where rates are already higher than in rich countries. The authors conclude that these countries need policy action on the availability and price of food.

France is a useful example of a slower path. Its adult rate was 10.1% in 1990 and is 11.2% today, one of the smallest rises in Europe. Russia also changed little, from 16.7% to 17.6%.

How to read obesity statistics by country

The numbers on this page are estimates that make countries comparable, not counts of every person. Knowing how they are made helps you read them correctly and explains why you may see different figures elsewhere.

What counts as obesity in these figures?

For adults aged 18 and over, obesity means a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher. For children and teens aged 5 to 19, it means a BMI more than two standard deviations above the WHO growth reference for their age and sex.

BMI is a rough tool for one person, because it cannot see where fat sits or how healthy someone is. But it works well to compare large groups. You can check your own with our BMI calculator.

Why are the rates age-standardised?

Obesity is more common in middle age than in young adults. A country with many older people would therefore look worse than a country with a young population, even if people of the same age were alike.

Age-standardisation removes that effect by applying every country's rates to the same standard age mix. This makes comparisons fair, but it also means the rate on this page can differ slightly from the crude share of all adults in a country.

Where do the numbers come from?

The figures come from the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC), a worldwide network of health scientists, and are published by WHO in its Global Health Observatory. Their models pool thousands of surveys in which height and weight were actually measured, covering more than 200 million people.

Why national surveys can show different numbers

Many countries run their own health surveys, and their results may not match ours. A national survey may cover a different age range, a different year, or use weight and height that people report themselves; self-reported weight tends to come out a little low.

National surveys are also usually not age-standardised to the same reference. Both kinds of figures are useful: national data for tracking change inside one country, and NCD-RisC estimates for comparing countries.

Obesity rates by country: the full table of 196 countries

The table below lists every country in the WHO data, ranked from the highest to the lowest adult obesity rate. It shows the share of all adults, men, women, and children and teens aged 5 to 19. Countries with their own page are linked.

WHO Global Health Observatory (NCD-RisC estimates), latest figures (2026 update)
Rank	Country	Adults	Men	Women	Children (5–19)
1	American Samoa	75.9%	70.6%	81.1%	27.1%
2	Tonga	73.8%	63.9%	81.4%	32.5%
3	Nauru	71.4%	71.4%	71.4%	30.5%
4	Tuvalu	65.1%	57.7%	72.3%	28.2%
5	Samoa	64.3%	51.7%	76.4%	25.0%
6	French Polynesia	49.2%	47.4%	50.9%	25.6%
7	Micronesia	48.6%	39.5%	57.0%	18.8%
8	Bahamas	48.3%	38.8%	57.0%	26.7%
9	St. Kitts & Nevis	46.7%	37.2%	55.3%	22.6%
10	Kiribati	45.6%	37.2%	52.9%	13.2%
11	Egypt	43.9%	30.6%	57.1%	13.6%
12	Belize	43.4%	33.4%	53.5%	21.5%
13	Puerto Rico	42.4%	36.2%	47.8%	20.2%
14	Marshall Islands	42.0%	32.1%	51.9%	11.7%
15	Qatar	42.0%	38.8%	50.1%	23.5%
16	United States	41.0%	39.6%	42.4%	21.8%
17	Chile	40.5%	34.4%	46.4%	28.3%
18	Palau	40.5%	36.0%	45.9%	28.6%
19	Kuwait	40.4%	36.4%	46.8%	21.9%
20	Saudi Arabia	40.1%	36.5%	46.7%	18.3%
21	Iraq	39.7%	31.2%	47.6%	18.0%
22	Barbados	39.4%	28.0%	50.0%	22.7%
23	Fiji	39.0%	28.8%	48.8%	12.9%
24	Panama	37.7%	30.3%	45.0%	14.8%
25	Mexico	37.4%	32.7%	41.4%	18.3%
26	Palestinian Territories	37.4%	28.3%	45.5%	11.2%
27	Argentina	37.2%	35.9%	38.4%	21.7%
28	Brunei	37.1%	33.5%	41.2%	24.5%
29	Georgia	35.7%	34.2%	36.1%	10.0%
30	Jordan	35.4%	29.2%	41.9%	14.1%
31	Jamaica	35.2%	19.5%	50.1%	14.3%
32	Bahrain	34.9%	30.8%	41.8%	20.0%
33	Nicaragua	34.9%	28.7%	40.3%	13.1%
34	Uruguay	34.9%	31.8%	37.7%	17.8%
35	St. Lucia	34.8%	21.2%	47.8%	19.1%
36	Paraguay	34.7%	29.3%	39.8%	16.7%
37	Antigua & Barbuda	34.6%	24.5%	43.6%	24.2%
38	St. Vincent & Grenadines	34.6%	19.7%	50.2%	18.8%
39	Bermuda	34.1%	24.6%	43.5%	18.2%
40	New Zealand	34.0%	32.3%	35.7%	18.3%
41	Seychelles	33.9%	25.1%	44.9%	18.0%
42	Libya	33.7%	25.3%	41.9%	14.0%
43	Syria	33.0%	25.2%	40.1%	15.1%
44	Costa Rica	32.7%	25.6%	39.4%	14.5%
45	Dominica	32.5%	18.8%	46.3%	18.1%
46	Romania	32.4%	34.5%	30.0%	9.8%
47	El Salvador	32.2%	23.8%	38.8%	12.3%
48	Honduras	31.8%	23.9%	39.3%	12.7%
49	South Africa	31.8%	14.5%	47.5%	7.8%
50	United Arab Emirates	31.6%	27.8%	38.4%	21.2%
51	Grenada	31.5%	19.4%	43.8%	18.2%
52	Hungary	31.4%	34.6%	27.9%	14.1%
53	Uzbekistan	31.2%	28.3%	33.7%	3.1%
54	Trinidad & Tobago	30.9%	24.8%	36.8%	17.4%
55	Dominican Republic	30.8%	24.2%	37.2%	14.8%
56	Croatia	30.8%	34.2%	27.0%	9.4%
57	Suriname	30.8%	20.4%	41.0%	17.7%
58	Lebanon	30.7%	29.4%	31.7%	17.4%
59	Australia	30.6%	31.4%	29.7%	16.4%
60	Malta	30.6%	33.1%	27.6%	12.8%
61	Oman	30.5%	25.5%	39.5%	17.7%
62	Brazil	30.1%	26.1%	33.9%	17.4%
63	Guyana	30.1%	18.7%	40.2%	13.1%
64	Bolivia	29.7%	23.4%	35.9%	11.5%
65	Eswatini	29.6%	15.0%	42.5%	6.1%
66	Peru	29.2%	24.9%	33.3%	16.8%
67	Ecuador	28.9%	23.7%	33.9%	12.9%
68	Türkiye	28.8%	21.9%	35.2%	9.7%
69	Greenland	28.1%	24.5%	32.0%	5.2%
70	Papua New Guinea	28.0%	24.5%	31.6%	12.1%
71	Guatemala	28.0%	23.3%	32.2%	8.0%
72	Ireland	27.9%	28.8%	27.1%	7.9%
73	Azerbaijan	27.6%	20.8%	33.4%	9.7%
74	United Kingdom	27.4%	25.9%	28.9%	11.3%
75	Greece	27.4%	27.7%	26.9%	11.9%
76	North Macedonia	26.8%	27.5%	25.9%	11.0%
77	Czechia	26.3%	30.5%	22.1%	6.0%
78	Slovakia	26.1%	30.0%	22.0%	10.1%
79	Tunisia	26.1%	18.7%	32.8%	13.2%
80	Canada	26.0%	27.5%	24.4%	11.6%
81	Mongolia	25.1%	22.8%	26.9%	8.1%
82	Armenia	25.0%	19.9%	28.5%	9.9%
83	Colombia	24.9%	18.7%	30.7%	11.4%
84	Iran	24.6%	18.8%	30.4%	13.9%
85	Pakistan	24.5%	21.0%	28.0%	8.0%
86	Finland	24.2%	23.6%	24.7%	12.8%
87	Albania	24.1%	23.3%	24.7%	10.1%
88	Mauritania	24.1%	9.0%	37.4%	6.6%
89	Algeria	23.6%	15.6%	31.8%	14.4%
90	Malaysia	23.3%	18.3%	28.9%	17.6%
91	Tajikistan	23.1%	17.9%	27.6%	3.3%
92	Cuba	23.0%	19.7%	26.2%	17.3%
93	Venezuela	23.0%	20.2%	25.4%	15.0%
94	Ukraine	22.8%	19.4%	25.5%	5.0%
95	Gabon	22.7%	11.8%	34.1%	5.2%
96	Vanuatu	22.6%	17.4%	27.7%	11.5%
97	Latvia	22.3%	22.7%	21.3%	6.8%
98	Moldova	22.3%	20.8%	23.1%	5.0%
99	Lesotho	22.2%	6.3%	36.0%	4.7%
100	Iceland	22.2%	23.3%	21.0%	9.2%
101	Israel	22.2%	22.3%	22.1%	8.9%
102	Turkmenistan	22.2%	19.5%	24.2%	3.9%
103	Kyrgyzstan	22.0%	18.0%	25.5%	2.5%
104	Poland	21.8%	25.7%	17.6%	9.8%
105	Solomon Islands	21.8%	16.2%	27.6%	6.3%
106	Serbia	21.8%	25.6%	18.2%	10.6%
107	Morocco	21.6%	13.2%	29.9%	5.0%
108	Cyprus	21.6%	23.2%	19.8%	13.6%
109	Lithuania	21.3%	22.7%	19.5%	7.3%
110	Kazakhstan	21.1%	20.5%	21.2%	5.9%
111	Mauritius	21.1%	16.0%	26.2%	12.3%
112	Bosnia & Herzegovina	21.0%	21.7%	19.9%	11.8%
113	Belgium	20.8%	19.7%	22.0%	7.3%
114	Afghanistan	20.6%	14.6%	26.2%	8.3%
115	Belarus	20.6%	18.8%	21.7%	8.6%
116	Germany	20.6%	22.1%	19.1%	9.6%
117	Bulgaria	20.3%	23.3%	17.3%	12.4%
118	Estonia	20.3%	20.1%	20.0%	11.4%
119	Norway	20.2%	21.1%	19.2%	6.3%
120	Botswana	19.8%	8.7%	30.5%	5.6%
121	Slovenia	19.8%	25.8%	13.3%	10.7%
122	Equatorial Guinea	19.2%	8.5%	32.1%	4.9%
123	Luxembourg	19.0%	20.5%	17.5%	9.1%
124	Namibia	18.3%	10.8%	25.0%	4.5%
125	Portugal	18.1%	17.0%	19.0%	8.2%
126	São Tomé & Príncipe	17.9%	10.3%	25.4%	3.8%
127	Maldives	17.9%	13.4%	25.4%	12.8%
128	Liberia	17.8%	13.4%	21.9%	2.1%
129	Sudan	17.8%	12.1%	23.0%	5.9%
130	Russia	17.6%	16.6%	18.0%	7.5%
131	Sweden	17.5%	18.5%	16.5%	11.2%
132	Andorra	17.1%	18.8%	15.2%	10.9%
133	Montenegro	17.1%	19.5%	14.6%	8.6%
134	Singapore	17.0%	18.2%	15.5%	15.6%
135	Comoros	16.8%	8.1%	25.4%	4.1%
136	Cape Verde	16.7%	8.8%	24.9%	3.5%
137	Austria	16.5%	19.8%	13.3%	10.8%
138	Thailand	16.4%	12.9%	19.6%	13.5%
139	Cameroon	16.0%	9.5%	22.4%	3.4%
140	Spain	15.3%	17.5%	13.0%	11.5%
141	Somalia	14.9%	6.0%	23.3%	3.2%
142	Netherlands	14.7%	14.2%	15.1%	4.9%
143	Zimbabwe	14.7%	6.1%	21.3%	2.6%
144	Ghana	14.5%	4.8%	23.9%	6.2%
145	Denmark	14.3%	15.5%	13.2%	5.4%
146	Italy	14.0%	14.5%	13.3%	9.9%
147	Nigeria	13.7%	8.5%	18.9%	3.2%
148	Togo	13.4%	6.1%	19.7%	2.7%
149	Mali	13.3%	9.0%	17.6%	1.8%
150	Yemen	13.3%	10.3%	16.2%	8.9%
151	Bhutan	13.1%	9.8%	16.9%	5.7%
152	Côte d’Ivoire	12.8%	8.2%	17.7%	5.2%
153	Angola	12.7%	6.8%	18.2%	4.3%
154	Guinea-Bissau	12.7%	7.8%	17.1%	3.4%
155	Gambia	12.4%	5.4%	19.0%	1.0%
156	Benin	12.2%	7.4%	16.8%	4.5%
157	Congo - Brazzaville	12.2%	6.3%	18.0%	2.5%
158	North Korea	12.0%	9.2%	14.7%	9.5%
159	Indonesia	11.8%	7.0%	16.6%	10.3%
160	Djibouti	11.7%	6.2%	16.8%	3.1%
161	Senegal	11.6%	4.7%	18.4%	2.4%
162	Zambia	11.6%	5.6%	17.1%	4.6%
163	Tanzania	11.5%	6.4%	16.2%	1.3%
164	Kenya	11.3%	5.6%	16.8%	4.1%
165	Switzerland	11.3%	13.6%	9.0%	7.0%
166	France	11.2%	10.7%	11.7%	4.1%
167	Sri Lanka	11.2%	7.1%	15.0%	4.2%
168	Haiti	11.1%	5.5%	16.5%	7.0%
169	Central African Republic	10.9%	6.7%	14.0%	4.8%
170	Guinea	10.6%	6.2%	14.6%	2.8%
171	Mozambique	10.6%	5.7%	14.5%	2.9%
172	Philippines	9.6%	7.5%	11.6%	5.6%
173	Uganda	9.5%	4.5%	14.1%	1.1%
174	China	9.3%	10.0%	8.4%	12.7%
175	Laos	9.2%	6.6%	11.7%	7.1%
176	South Sudan	8.9%	5.3%	12.1%	4.7%
177	South Korea	8.4%	10.4%	6.0%	13.1%
178	Sierra Leone	8.2%	3.0%	13.1%	3.3%
179	Myanmar (Burma)	8.1%	5.8%	10.4%	8.0%
180	India	8.0%	5.7%	10.4%	4.0%
181	Malawi	8.0%	3.3%	12.1%	0.8%
182	Nepal	8.0%	5.1%	10.3%	1.6%
183	Burkina Faso	7.7%	4.4%	10.7%	1.0%
184	Chad	7.4%	7.7%	7.2%	2.7%
185	Niger	6.8%	4.9%	8.7%	3.3%
186	Congo - Kinshasa	6.7%	4.1%	9.1%	4.3%
187	Japan	5.9%	8.0%	3.7%	4.7%
188	Bangladesh	5.8%	2.7%	8.6%	2.2%
189	Rwanda	5.6%	2.0%	8.8%	1.6%
190	Burundi	5.2%	6.1%	4.3%	2.1%
191	Cambodia	4.9%	3.6%	6.2%	5.9%
192	Madagascar	4.5%	4.7%	4.4%	2.0%
193	Eritrea	4.3%	2.6%	5.8%	1.7%
194	Timor-Leste	3.6%	1.7%	5.5%	0.8%
195	Ethiopia	2.9%	1.4%	4.4%	2.0%
196	Vietnam	2.4%	2.3%	2.4%	7.3%

Rank 1 is the highest rate and rank 196 the lowest. Small differences of a few tenths of a percent between neighbouring ranks are within the margin of error of the estimates.

How Obesity Foundation helps you lose weight, wherever you live

Whatever your country’s rank, the steps that help one person lose weight are much the same: good food, exercise that suits your body and walking every day. Obesity Foundation offers free help with all three, in many languages and without blame.

Talk to your doctor first before you change how you eat or move, especially if you have a health condition or take medicines. Then pick one place to start:

Eat well: our free eating plan uses ordinary, affordable foods you can find in most countries.
Walk more: our walking plan starts with just a few minutes a day and builds up slowly.
Move gently: low impact cardio is easy on the joints and can be done at home.
Check your numbers: our free calculators help you set a realistic goal.
Get support: book a free video meeting (in English) with a volunteer, or join the Obesity Foundation Club to keep going with others.

Frequently asked questions

Which country has the highest obesity rate in the world?

In the WHO data for 196 countries, American Samoa has the highest adult rate at 75.9%, followed by Tonga at 73.8% and Nauru at 71.4%. All of the top five are Pacific island nations. Among larger countries, Egypt ranks highest, with 43.9% of adults living with obesity.

Which country has the lowest obesity rate?

Vietnam has the lowest adult obesity rate, at 2.4% according to the latest WHO figures. Ethiopia (2.9%) and Timor-Leste (3.6%) come next. Even so, obesity is rising there too, and in Vietnam the rate among children and teens is already about three times the adult rate.

Which country has the most people living with obesity?

The United States, with an estimated 115 million adults living with obesity. China is close behind with about 110 million and India third with about 87 million. China and India have low rates, but their very large populations mean the numbers are high.

Where does the United States rank for obesity?

The United States ranks 16th of 196 countries, with 41.0% of adults living with obesity in the latest WHO estimates. Its rate for children and teens aged 5 to 19 is 21.8%, also among the highest in the world. National US surveys show a similar adult rate.

Is obesity rising in every country?

Adult obesity is higher today than in 1990 in all 196 countries in the WHO data. In many rich countries the rise has slowed or stopped in recent years. In most low and middle-income countries it is still going up at the same speed or faster.

Why do different websites give different obesity rates for the same country?

Figures differ because of the source, the year and the method. National surveys may use self-reported weight, a different age group or no age-standardisation, while the WHO and NCD-RisC figures are modelled to make countries comparable. Both can be correct for their own purpose.

Obesity by country: obesity rates in 196 countries