World’s Most Obese Country in 2024: Statistics and Causes

As per the Obesity federation globe observatory the highest ranked obesity percentage for adult male is 70.29% for the country of American Samoa, for Female adults is 81.46% , for Male children 42.86% in Niue and 34.32% of Female Children in Niue

The list of countries ranked by the proportion of the population that is obese is given below.The data baring the below obesity details was referenced from the World Obesity federation globe observatory data below are the obesity percentage of the country 2016 data as per world-factbook details, These data are referenced from NCD Risk Factor collaboration and UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Group Joint Malnutrition Estimates for the referenced time frame till 9-Aug-2024

If you are wondering who is "Obesity federation globe observatory" GOO

The World Obesity Federation’s Global Obesity Observatory (GOO) is a collection of data on obesity prevalence by country, including interactive maps, country and regional pages, data tables, presentation maps, rankings, and publications. The GOO has been collecting data for more than 20 years and suggests that most of the world’s population lives in countries where obesity and overweight are a greater health risk than underweight.

Country	Men (%)	Women (%)	Boys (%)	Girls (%)	Ag- 2024(%)	Ag -2016
Timor-Leste	1.5	0.7	0.7	0.9	0.95	3.8
Burundi	?	1.7	?	?	1.7	5.4
Democratic Republic of the Congo	2.8	3.4	1.1	1.9	2.3	6.7
Cambodia	1.1	6.3	0.6	2	2.5	3.9
Madagascar	?	2.7	?	?	2.7	5.3
India	4	6.4	1	0.9	3.075	3.9
Myanmar	2	7.3	2.3	1.6	3.3	5.8
Bangladesh	2.3	8.6	0.8	1.6	3.325	3.6
Sierra Leone	1.5	8.1	2.1	1.8	3.375	8.7
Senegal	1	5.8	?	?	3.4	8.8
Eritrea	2	4.9	?	?	3.45	5
Laos	3.5	7.1	2.5	0.9	3.5	5.3
Vietnam	1.7	1.7	7.6	3.2	3.55	2.1
Ethiopia	0.4	1.5	8.6	3.8	3.575	4.5
Malawi	2	13	0.4	0.2	3.9	5.8
Nepal	5.9	8.4	0.8	0.6	3.925	4.1
Yemen	?	8	1.7	2.5	4.1	17.1
Japan	5.5	3.8	6.2	1.6	4.275	4.3
Togo	2.3	11.1	2.1	1.7	4.3	8.4
Rwanda	1.3	7.4	?	?	4.35	5.8
Benin	4.7	9.4	1.2	2.9	4.6	9.6
Djibouti	?	?	3.2	6.5	4.9	13.5
Uganda	6.2	12.3	0.3	1	4.95	5.3
Namibia	3.4	13.2	1.3	2	4.975	17.2
Burkina Faso	2.9	7.3	5	5	5.05	5.6
Niger	3.9	6.3	?	?	5.1	5.5
Zambia	3	12.3	?	0.6	5.3	8.1
Mozambique	5	9.9	?	1.4	5.4	7.2
Chad	8.4	2.5	?	?	5.45	6.1
Congo	2.5	8.8	?	?	5.7	9.6
Kenya	4.2	17.3	0.3	2	6.0	7.1
Indonesia	1.3	4.5	10.7	7.7	6.05	6.9
China	6.3	6.8	7.9	3.3	6.075	6.2
Cameroon	6.5	13.6	2.6	3.2	6.5	11.4
Cote d’Ivoire	5.1	14.7	1.8	4.6	6.6	10.3
Angola	2.8	10.6	?	?	6.7	8.2
Philippines	7.3	12.2	4.3	3.1	6.7	6.4
Liberia	1.2	12.3	?	?	6.8	9.9
Bhutan	8.4	14.9	1.9	2.1	6.8	6.4
Papua New Guinea	5.1	8.7	?	?	6.9	21.3
Sri Lanka	6.4	12.6	7.5	1.2	6.9	5.2
Tajikistan	11.9	13.4	1.8	1	7.0	14.2
Zimbabwe	2.3	12.6	7.3	8	7.55	15.5
Tanzania	3.4	14	4.9	8	7.575	8.4
Ghana	3.9	22	0.8	4	7.7	10.9
Solomon Islands	8.8	17.9	1.5	2.9	7.8	22.5
Thailand	6.3	11.5	8.7	4.7	7.8	10
Singapore	13.1	10.2	6.1	3	8.1	6.1
Norway	15.5	12.7	3	1.9	8.3	23.1
Switzerland	12.3	10.2	6.3	4.3	8.3	19.5
Guinea	?	8.4	?	?	8.4	7.7
Vanuatu	11.1	18.8	2.8	1.7	8.6	25.2
Equatorial Guinea	4.5	12.7	?	?	8.6	8
Botswana	5.1	19.1	5.9	4.4	8.6	18.9
Comoros	5.5	11.8	?	?	8.7	7.8
Mali	?	8.7	?	?	8.7	8.6
Nigeria	6.5	9.9	8.3	10.3	8.75	8.9
Gambia	3.9	14.2	?	?	9.1	10.3
Turkmenistan	12.7	17.5	4	2	9.1	18.6
Tunisia	6.7	22.7	3.4	3.7	9.1	26.9
Pakistan	12.1	13.9	4.6	6.3	9.225	8.6
São Tomé and Príncipe	6.6	12.2	?	?	9.4	12.4
Belgium	17.2	15.6	3.7	2.3	9.7	22.1
Netherlands	13.8	17.5	3.3	4.2	9.7	20.4
Central African Republic	6.9	12.7	?	?	9.8	7.5
Italy	11.1	9.7	9.9	8.8	9.9	19.9
Mongolia	16.6	20.4	1.9	0.7	9.9	20.6
Afghanistan	11.9	23.5	2.7	2	10.0	5.5
Gabon	8	24.7	2	6	10.2	15
Mauritania	8.6	26.9	1.8	4.3	10.4	12.7
France	16.7	17.4	3.2	5.5	10.7	21.6
Denmark	16.3	16.6	6.6	4.8	11.1	19.7
Haiti	?	11.2	?	?	11.2	22.7
Lesotho	3.1	19.6	?	?	11.4	16.6
Morocco	11	29	2.7	3.3	11.5	26.1
Maldives	14.1	22.8	5.5	4.3	11.7	8.6
Eswatini	8.8	30.9	1.8	5.5	11.8	16.5
Israel	17.4	16.6	7.8	6.3	12.0	26.1
Sudan	6.7	14.9	11.1	16	12.2	6.6
Syrian Arab Republic	15.5	22.5	6.7	5.3	12.5	27.8
Romania	11.1	10.8	17.3	10.9	12.5	22.5
Slovenia	21.3	18.5	5.9	4.7	12.6	20.2
Algeria	14.1	30.1	3	3.4	12.7	27.4
Bosnia and Herzegovina	20.3	24.1	1.3	5.5	12.8	17.9
North Macedonia	11.1	9.9	18	12.5	12.9	22.4
Montenegro	?	?	15.5	10.4	13.0	23.3
Lithuania	17	20.5	8.2	6.2	13.0	26.3
Sweden	15	16	11.7	9.4	13.0	20.6
Kyrgyzstan	17.6	29	4	2	13.2	16.6
Austria	18.6	15.7	11.3	7.1	13.2	20.1
Venezuela	22.2	26.7	2	3	13.5	25.6
Ukraine	20.1	29.8	2.3	1.8	13.5	24.1
Dominican Republic	13	20.8	8.2	12.3	13.6	27.6
Bulgaria	15.6	11.9	15.2	12	13.7	25
Iceland	24.3	20.5	5.8	4.2	13.7	21.9
Andorra	13	14.4	?	?	13.7	25.6
Mauritius	11.1	25.8	10.5	7.6	13.8	10.8
Spain	16.6	15.3	14.9	8.3	13.8	23.8
Guatemala	?	26.1	7.9	8.1	14.0	21.2
Guyana	14	34	4.6	3.6	14.1	20.2
Czech Republic (Czechia)	21.8	18	10.4	6.6	14.2	26
Ireland	23	20	8.5	6.7	14.6	25.3
Cabo Verde	6.7	22.5	?	?	14.6	11.8
Albania	18.1	24.4	11	5	14.6	21.7
Germany	19.1	19	12.3	8.2	14.7	22.3
Serbia	19.5	15.2	15	9.3	14.8	21.5
Portugal	17.1	18.2	13.4	10.6	14.8	20.8
Dominica	8.6	32.7	8.5	9.6	14.9	27.9
Colombia	29.4	12.6	10	7.6	14.9	22.3
Slovakia	20.2	18	11.4	10.3	15.0	20.5
Somalia	?	15.1	?	?	15.1	8.3
Kazakhstan	15.9	30.6	9.6	4.6	15.2	21
Latvia	18.9	25.1	9.8	7.8	15.4	23.6
Bolivia	20.8	31.8	5.3	3.9	15.5	20.2
Saudi Arabia	19.2	21.4	12.5	9.1	15.6	35.4
Uzbekistan	15.7	15.5	?	?	15.6	16.6
Turkey	16.8	23.6	13	9	15.6	32.1
Paraguay	19.9	28.6	8.1	5.9	15.6	20.3
Cuba	12.8	18.8	?	?	15.8	24.6
Estonia	19.7	23.6	11.4	9	15.9	21.2
South Africa	11	41	4.7	7.1	16.0	28.3
Armenia	14	25	15.2	9.6	16.0	20.2
Suriname	17	27	11.2	9.7	16.2	26.4
Poland	20.1	18.1	17.6	9.4	16.3	23.1
Grenada	13.9	36.6	6.8	8.2	16.4	21.3
Luxembourg	18.4	14.6	?	?	16.5	22.6
Lebanon	26.6	27.5	7.6	4.4	16.5	32
Northern Ireland	27.8	27.1	4.7	7.3	16.7
Greece	16.8	16.6	20.8	13.3	16.9	24.9
Uruguay	22.1	25.1	11.7	9.2	17.0	27.9
Malaysia	15.3	24.7	17.1	11.4	17.1	15.6
Cyprus	15.8	13.5	24.1	15.3	17.2	21.8
Canada	26.7	22	12	9.1	17.5	29.4
Brazil	21.8	29.5	10.6	8	17.5	22.1
El Salvador	19.5	33.2	9.1	8.9	17.7	24.6
Iran	17.2	31.2	12.5	10.2	17.8	25.8
Jamaica	14.9	41.2	9	9.5	18.7	24.7
Hungary	25.1	22.7	15	12.3	18.8	26.4
Belarus	16.6	21.2	?	?	18.9	24.5
Russian Federation	27.5	31.4	9.9	7	19.0	23.1
Croatia	23.7	22.6	17.7	11.8	19.0	24.4
Fiji	21.5	44.7	5.9	4.5	19.2	30.2
Peru	21.3	28.2	19.1	8.7	19.3	19.7
Costa Rica	18.9	31.3	16.6	11.6	19.6	25.7
Australia	32.5	30.9	9.9	6.4	19.9	29
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	13.2	40.8	9.9	16.4	20.1	23.7
Argentina	31.4	33.4	10.6	5.3	20.2	28.3
Ecuador	20.3	30.9	17.5	12.1	20.2	19.9
Saint Lucia	20.6	46.1	6.9	7.2	20.2	19.7
Iraq	25.6	42.6	8.8	4.1	20.3	30.4
Marshall Islands	26.6	45.1	6.3	3.9	20.5	52.9
Finland	26.9	29.6	15.7	9.7	20.5	22.2
England	24.8	24.7	19.9	12.6	20.5
Azerbaijan	14.7	26.5	?	?	20.6	19.9
Nicaragua	11.9	29.8	?	?	20.9	23.7
Trinidad and Tobago	19.4	31.7	16.5	15.9	20.9	18.6
Malta	30.6	26.7	17.5	12.2	21.8	28.9
Oman	23.2	39.3	11.6	13.4	21.9	27
Jordan	36.1	21.9	18.9	11.2	22.0	35.5
Seychelles	22	39	12.5	14.8	22.1	14
Honduras	?	22.1	?	?	22.1	21.4
United Arab Emirates	25.1	30.6	21.1	12.3	22.3	31.7
Georgia	30.2	36	13.9	9.2	22.3	21.7
Moldova	21.4	24	?	?	22.7	18.9
New Zealand	31.9	33.4	15.4	11.5	23.1	30.8
Panama	27.7	42.3	7.5	14.9	23.1	22.7
Brunei Darussalam	26.9	29.5	20.9	15.3	23.2	14.1
South Korea	36.3	27.6	17.7	12	23.4	4.7
Scotland	28	30	17	19	23.5
Palestine	24.7	38.8	17.5	13.8	23.7	?
Barbados	23.4	43.4	13.9	14.6	23.8	23.1
Libya	33.8	47.4	7.2	8.2	24.2	32.5
Chile	30.3	38.4	15.1	12.9	24.2	28
Egypt	24.8	48.8	15.1	11	24.9	32
Kiribati	32.1	55.6	7.8	8.5	26.0	46
Wales	25	27.2	?	?	26.1
Belize	31.2	49.4	12.5	12.6	26.4	24.1
Mexico	32.3	41	21.5	15	27.5	28.9
Bahrain	33	42.5	18.6	17.1	27.8	29.8
United States	42.2	41.8	16.5	15	28.9	42.1
Saint Kitts and Nevis	37.9	52.5	16.6	12.1	29.8	22.9
Qatar	39.5	43.2	24.6	18.3	31.4	35.1
Bahamas	31.8	54.8	18.2	23.6	32.1	31.6
Kuwait	37.6	49.1	28.9	22	34.4	37.9
Nauru	55.7	60.5	17.8	15.7	37.4	71.7
Federated States of Micronesia	27.5	49.6	?	?	38.6	45.9
Samoa	44.8	66.9	24.6	25.8	40.5	47.3
Tuvalu	70.7	55.2	22.1	20.9	42.2	51.6
Antigua and Barbuda	25	60	?	?	42.5	18.9
Palau	40.3	45.4	?	?	42.9	55.3
Tonga	66.8	82.8	21.4	27.9	49.7	48.2
Niue	59.2	62.7	37.6	44.4	51.0	50
Cook Islands	68.7	70.7	35.6	35.4	52.6	55.9
Guinea-Bissau	?	?	?	?	?	9.5
North Korea	?	?	?	?	?	6.8
South Sudan	?	?	?	?	?	6.6

Note:-

These details have been referenced from the GOO who has refered these datas from the below referenced

Reference

NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC). Worldwide trends in body-mass index, underweight, overweight, and obesity from 1975 to 2016: a pooled analysis of 2416 population-based measurement studies in 128·9 million children, adolescents, and adults. Lancet. 2017;390(10113):2627‐2642. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32129-3
NCD RisC Collaboration. Worldwide trends in underweight and obesity from 1990 to 2022: a pooled analysis of 3663 population-representative studies with 222 million children, adolescents, and adults. The Lancet 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)02750-2
UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Group Joint Malnutrition Estimates, May 2018 edition
UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates Expanded Database: Overweight (Survey Estimates), May 2023, New York
Adult http://ncdrisc.org/data-downloads-adiposity.html
Child & Adolescent http://ncdrisc.org/data-downloads-adiposity-ado.html