World’s Most Obese Countries – Ranked

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A global ranking of the world’s most obese countries, drawing on the latest data available.

Overweight people in the South Pacific where the worlds most obese countries are located
The world’s most obese countries are located in the South Pacific (Shutterstock)

Obesity has been described by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a “global ticking time-bomb with huge potential negative economic and health impacts, especially for the poor.”

In 2023, The Global Obesity Observatory released a report on the state of obesity around the world. The report draws on data collected by NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC) during a 2022 study about the prevalence of obesity among adults.

The key findings and insights from the new report, along with the complete obesity ranking from 2022, can be found below.

10 Most Obese Countries in The World

These are the 10 most obese countries in the world for the male population.

  1. American Samoa
  2. Nauru
  3. Tokelau
  4. Cook Islands
  5. Niue
  6. Tonga
  7. Tuvalu
  8. Samoa
  9. French Polynesia
  10. United States

These are the 10 most obese countries in the world for the female population.

  1. Tonga
  2. American Samoa
  3. Samoa
  4. Tokelau
  5. Tuvalu
  6. Cook Islands
  7. Nauru
  8. Niue
  9. Egypt
  10. Federated States of Micronesia

Key Findings

  • Tonga has the world’s most obese female population, with 81.46% of its adult female population classified as obese.
  • American Samoa has the world’s most obese male population, with 70.29% of its adult male population classified as obese.
  • Vietnam has the world’s least obese female population, with 2.11% of its adult female population classified as obese.
  • Ethiopia has the world’s least obese male population, with 1.10% of its adult male population classified as obese.
  • As of 2022, an estimated 43% of adults worldwide are overweight.
  • There are at least 2.8 million obesity and overweight-related deaths every year.
  • Since 1975, the prevalence of obesity has tripled among adults and increased almost five times among children and teens.
  • The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the USA is $147-210 billion.

World’s Most Obese Countries – Complete Ranking

The table ranks the world’s countries by the prevalence (%) of obesity among adults over 18 years old.

Some countries may have been omitted due to insufficient data.

Male Obesity Data

RankCountry%
1American Samoa70.29
2Nauru69.65
3Tokelau67.05
4Cook Islands66.05
5Niue63.71
6Tonga63.37
7Tuvalu57.73
8Samoa52.83
9French Polynesia47.02
10United States41.64
11Qatar40.79
12Bahamas39.78
13Palau39.10
14Federated States of Micronesia39.02
15Kuwait38.88
16Romania38.34
17Saudi Arabia38.13
18Marshall Islands38.09
19Saint Kitts and Nevis37.59
20Puerto Rico36.46
21Hungary36.43
22Kiribati36.08
23Malta36.02
24Argentina35.53
25Croatia34.80
26Georgia34.34
27Jordan34.20
28Chile34.10
29Belize33.62
30Iraq33.35
31New Zealand32.99
32Bahrain32.91
33Egypt32.48
34Mexico32.22
35Poland32.19
36Australia32.05
37Uruguay31.64
38Slovakia31.42
39Paraguay30.76
40Czechia30.72
41Ireland30.70
42Brunei Darussalam30.22
43Greece30.06
44Panama29.88
45Palestine29.77
46Lebanon29.53
47North Macedonia29.11
48United Arab Emirates29.02
49Nicaragua28.68
50Canada28.16
51Libya28.08
52Uzbekistan27.88
53Lithuania27.87
54Barbados27.78
55United Kingdom26.94
56Oman26.79
57Syrian Arab Republic26.71
58Fiji26.62
59Serbia26.44
60Turkey26.22
61Cyprus26.18
62Latvia25.72
63Slovenia25.66
64Costa Rica25.55
65Brazil25.05
66Kyrgyzstan24.96
67Bermuda24.47
68Antigua and Barbuda24.40
69Greenland24.37
70Russian Federation24.34
71Bulgaria24.08
72Dominican Republic24.02
73Israel23.81
74Iceland23.64
75Peru23.62
76Honduras23.59
77El Salvador23.44
78Bolivia23.41
79Estonia23.37
80Germany23.08
81Ecuador23.06
82Trinidad and Tobago22.99
83Guatemala22.62
84Mongolia22.46
85Bosnia and Herzegovina22.41
86Albania22.27
87Moldova22.01
88Portugal21.97
89Finland21.88
90Montenegro21.35
91Andorra21.06
92Luxembourg20.99
93Norway20.93
94Saint Lucia20.87
95Venezuela20.82
96Ukraine20.77
97Seychelles20.58
98Tajikistan20.57
99Pakistan20.49
100Azerbaijan20.39
101Belarus20.13
102Tunisia19.92
103Armenia19.81
104Belgium19.79
105Suriname19.67
106Turkmenistan19.60
107Spain19.39
108Saint Vincent and the Grenadines19.23
109Jamaica19.21
110 Cuba19.19
111Kazakhstan19.07
112Grenada19.06
113Austria18.81
114Colombia18.58
115Dominica18.38
116Iran18.26
117Solomon Islands18.13
118Guyana18.10
119Italy17.97
120Malaysia17.70
121Sweden17.18
122Vanuatu17.04
123Papua New Guinea16.61
124Singapore16.09
125Algeria16.03
126Denmark15.70
127Eswatini15.62
128Switzerland15.07
129Netherlands15.05
130Afghanistan14.88
131South Africa14.50
132Morocco13.79
133Maldives13.23
134Mauritius13.07
135Liberia13.05
136Taiwan12.44
137Thailand12.10
138Sudan11.74
139Gabon11.41
140Namibia10.65
141Yemen10.49
142Mali10.24
143France10.18
144Sao Tome and Princip10.06
145Gambia9.77
146Cameroon9.69
147Bhutan9.61
148Mauritania9.25
149China8.94
150Lesotho8.82
151South Korea8.82
152Cabo Verde8.79
153Botswana8.76
154North Korea8.65
155Nigeria8.52
156Comoros8.31
157Equatorial Guinea8.08
158Cote d’Ivoire7.95
159Guinea-Bissau7.86
160Chad7.71
161Japan7.63
162Benin7.41
163Philippines7.34
164Sri Lanka6.76
165Haiti6.73
166Tanzania6.73
167Angola6.53
168Indonesia6.53
169Mozambique6.50
170Burundi6.36
171Djibouti6.35
172Central African Republic6.33
173Kenya6.32
174Guinea6.16
175Somalia6.07
176Laos6.06
177Togo5.88
178Zimbabwe5.73
179Myanmar5.67
180India5.38
181Ghana5.37
182Zambia5.34
183South Sudan5.32
184Nepal4.97
185Madagascar4.63
186Niger4.51
187Congo4.38
188Democratic Republic of Congo4.38
189Uganda4.25
190Burkina Faso4.17
191Senegal4.06
192Malawi3.21
193Cambodia3.12
194Bangladesh2.97
195Eritrea2.93
196Sierra Leone2.79
197Vietnam1.97
198Rwanda1.84
199Timor-Leste1.58
200Ethiopia1.10
The above table is based on male obesity rate data as displayed by the Global Obesity Observatory.

Female Obesity Data

RankCountry%
1Tonga81.46
2American Samoa81.42
3Samoa 74.93
4Tokelau 74.90
5Tuvalu 73.17
6Cook Islands73.11
7Nauru72.52
8Niue70.90
9Egypt 58.99
10Federated States of Micronesia57.45
11Kiribati57.16
12Marshall Islands56.52
13Bahamas55.81
14Saint Kitts and Nevis55.10
15Belize53.07
16Qatar52.46
17French Polynesia51.03
18Kuwait49.94
19 Jamaica 49.63
20Saint Vincent and the Grenadines49.55
21Iraq 49.50
22Barbados 49.15
23Saudi Arabia 48.34
24Libya 47.67
25South Africa 47.35
26Palestine 47.24
27Saint Lucia 47.15
28Puerto Rico 47.05
29Jordan 46.10
30Dominica 45.77
31Eswatini
45.43
32Palau 45.30
33Chile 45.17
34Bahrain 44.32
35Panama44.23
36United States43.82
37Fiji 43.22
38Grenada 43.17
39Antigua and Barbuda 42.81
40Bermuda 42.79
41Syrian Arab Republic42.70
42Turkey 42.62
43Mexico 41.28
44Oman 41.21
45Seychelles 40.88
46United Arab Emirates40.80
47Nicaragua 40.24
48Suriname 39.85
49Guyana 39.38
50Costa Rica39.04
51El Salvador38.46
52Argentina37.24
53Honduras37.17
54Paraguay37.15
55Uruguay36.66
56Dominican Republic36.52
57Georgia36.47
58Mauritania36.15
59Bolivia35.58
60New Zealand35.55
61Tunisia35.30
62Trinidad and Tobago34.64
63Uzbekistan34.16
64Azerbaijan34.10
65Brunei Darussalam34.10
66Lesotho33.91
67Ecuador33.49
68Algeria33.40
69Gabon32.87
70Brazil32.60
71Peru32.53
72Guatemala32.42
73Iran32.04
74Romania31.95
75Lebanon31.76
76Morocco31.40
77Greenland31.14
78Equatorial Guinea30.40
79Australia30.00
80Colombia29.92
81Kyrgyzstan29.75
82Malta29.38
83Armenia29.36
84Hungary28.94
85Tajikistan28.76
86Solomon Islands28.69
87United Kingdom28.30
88Croatia28.26
89Botswana28.25
90Ireland27.86
91North Macedonia27.72
92Greece27.69
93Ukraine27.50
94Malaysia27.34
95Mongolia27.15
96Vanuatu27.12
97Pakistan26.94
98Albania26.34
99Papua New Guinea25.99
100Mauritius25.93
101Cuba25.87
102Venezuela25.77
103Comoros25.39
104Canada25.32
105Moldova25.21
106Russian Federation25.14
107Turkmenistan24.66
108Poland24.62
109Afghanistan24.39
110Maldives24.22
111Sao Tome and Principe24.22
112Lithuania24.12
113Latvia23.98
114Slovakia23.90
115Somalia23.84
116Namibia23.83
117Cabo Verde23.82
118Belarus23.70
119Sudan23.16
120Czechia23.10
121Portugal23.02
122Israel22.52
123Estonia22.21
124Finland22.07
125Zimbabwe21.80
126Liberia21.71
127Bosnia and Herzegovina21.55
128Belgium21.21
129Cameroon21.20
130Ghana21.14
131Cyprus20.91
132Gambia20.82
133Serbia20.03
134Iceland19.78
135Kenya19.31
136Tanzania19.02
137Germany18.96
138Kazakhstan18.92
139Thailand18.60
140Bulgaria18.56
141Togo18.11
142Norway18.10
143Yemen17.70
144Italy17.65
145Nigeria17.26
146Luxembourg17.03
147Zambia16.99
148Djibouti16.94
149Angola16.88
150Indonesia16.58
151Cote d’Ivoire16.32
152Senegal16.23
153Montenegro16.14
154Bhutan16.12
155Andorra16.05
156Benin15.62
157Guinea-Bissau15.48
158Haiti15.30
159Netherlands14.92
160Sri Lanka14.68
161Mozambique14.28
162Slovenia14.13
163Sweden14.00
164Mali13.43
165North Korea13.42
166Congo13.29
167Guinea13.23
168Spain13.03
169Central African Republic12.81
170Austria12.62
171Malawi12.28
172South Sudan12.19
173Sierra Leone11.86
174Uganda11.77
175Singapore11.65
176Denmark11.42
177Philippines10.63
178Laos10.50
179Taiwan10.08
180Switzerland9.91
181France9.82
182India9.78
183Myanmar9.73
184Burkina Faso9.62
185Democratic Republic of Congo9.35
186Nepal9.22
187Rwanda8.01
188Niger7.95
189Bangladesh7.81
190China7.78
191Eritrea6.89
192Chad6.31
193Cambodia5.86
194South Korea5.65
195Ethiopia4.71
196Madagascar4.26
197Burundi4.20
198Japan3.63
199Timor-Leste3.27
200Vietnam2.11

Sources:
► Ranking (% obesity by country), Global Obesity Observatory. Accessed at: https://data.worldobesity.org/rankings/.
► 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. Accessed at: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)02750-2/fulltext.
► Obesity and overweight, World Health Organization. Accessed at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight.
►Obesity, World Health Organization. Accessed at: https://www.who.int/news-room/facts-in-pictures/detail/6-facts-on-obesity.
► World Obesity Day reveals a worrying picture, Think Tank, European Parliament. Accessed at: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_ATA(2023)739361.
►Fast Facts Costs of Obesity, Milken Institute School of Public Health. Accessed at: https://stop.publichealth.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/zaxdzs4356/files/2022-06/fast-facts-costs-of-obesity.pdf

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Caitriona Maria is an education writer and owner of The Facts Institute. A teacher for seven years, she has been committed to providing students with the best learning opportunities possible, both domestically and abroad. Dedicated to unlocking students' potential, Caitriona has taught English in several countries and continues to explore new cultures through her travels.