Nauru

Global Obesity Levels

obesity.procon.org/global-obesity-levels

The island country of Nauru is the most obese in the world with obesity affecting 61.0% of the adult population, according to the most recent data available from the World Health Organization (WHO) as of Mar. 26, 2020. Vietnam is the least obese country with 2.1% of the population classified as obese. Among OECD countries, the United States is the most obese (36.2%).

According to WHO, more than 1.9 billion adults worldwide were overweight, including 650 million who were obese, in 2016. The prevalence of obesity tripled worldwide between 1975 and 2016.

Global Rank	Country	% of Adult Population That Is Obese
1	Nauru	61.0%
2	Cook Islands	55.9%
3	Palau	55.3%
4	Marshall Islands	52.9%
5	Tuvalu	51.6%
6	Niue	50.0%
7	Tonga	48.2%
8	Samoa	47.3%
9	Kiribati	46.0%
10	Micronesia (Federated States of)	45.8%
11	Kuwait	37.9%
12	United States of America	36.2%
13	Jordan	35.5%
14	Saudi Arabia	35.4%
15	Qatar	35.1%
16	Libya	32.5%
17	Turkey	32.1%
18	Egypt	32.0%
18	Lebanon	33.7%
20	United Arab Emirates	31.7%
21	Bahamas	31.6%
22	New Zealand	30.8%
23	Iraq	30.4%
24	Fiji	30.2%
25	Bahrain	29.8%
26	Canada	29.4%
27	Australia	29.0%
28	Malta	28.9%
28	Mexico	28.9%
30	Argentina	28.3%
30	South Africa	28.3%
32	Chile	28.0%
33	Dominica	27.9%
33	Uruguay	27.9%
33	Syrian Arab Republic	27.8%
33	United Kingdom	27.8%
37	Dominican Republic	27.6%
38	Algeria	27.4%
39	Oman	27.0%
40	Tunisia	26.9%
41	Hungary	26.4%
41	Suriname	26.4%
43	Lithuania	26.3%
44	Israel	26.1%
44	Morocco	26.1%
46	Czechia	26.0%
47	Iran (Islamic Republic of)	25.8%
48	Costa Rica	25.7%
49	Andorra	25.6%
49	Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)	25.6%
51	Ireland	25.3%
52	Vanatu	25.2%
53	Bulgaria	25.0%
54	Greece	24.9%
55	Jamaica	24.7%
56	Cuba	24.6%
56	El Salvador	24.6%
58	Belarus	24.5%
59	Croatia	24.4%
60	Belize	24.1%
61	Ukraine	24.1%
62	Spain	23.8%
63	Nicaragua	23.7%
63	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	24.1%
65	Latvia	23.6%
66	Montenegro	23.3%
67	Barbados	23.1%
67	Norway	23.1%
67	Poland	23.1%
67	Russian Federation	23.1%
71	Saint Kitts and Nevis	22.9%
72	Haiti	22.7%
72	Panama	22.7%
74	Luxembourg	22.6%
75	Romania	22.5%
75	Solomon Islands	22.5%
77	The former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia	22.4%
78	Colombia	22.3%
78	Germany	22.3%
80	Finland	22.2%
81	Belgium	22.1%
81	Brazil	22.1%
83	Iceland	21.9%
84	Cyprus	21.8%
85	Albania	21.7%
85	Georgia	21.7%
87	France	21.6%
88	Serbia	21.5%
89	Honduras	21.4%
90	Grenada	21.3%
90	Papua New Guinea	21.3%
92	Estonia	21.2%
92	Guatemala	21.2%
94	Kazakhstan	21.0%
95	Portugal	20.8%
96	Mongolia	20.6%
96	Sweden	20.6%
98	Slovakia	20.5%
99	Netherlands	20.4%
100	Paraguay	20.3%
101	Armenia	20.2%
101	Bolivia (Plurinational State of)	20.2%
101	Guyana	20.2%
101	Slovenia	20.2%
105	Austria	20.1%
106	Azerbaijan	19.9%
106	Ecuador	19.9%
106	Italy	19.9%
109	Denmark	19.7%
109	Peru	19.7%
109	Saint Lucia	19.7%
112	Switzerland	19.5%
113	Antigua and Barbuda	18.9%
113	Botswana	18.9%
113	Republic of Moldova	18.9%
116	Trinidad and Tobago	18.6%
116	Turkmenistan	18.6%
118	Bosnia and Herzegovina	17.9%
119	Namibia	17.2%
120	Yemen	17.1%
121	Kyrgyzstan	16.6%
121	Lesotho	16.6%
121	Uzbekistan	16.6%
124	Swaziland	16.5%
125	Malaysia	15.6%
126	Zimbabwe	15.5%
127	Gabon	15.0%
128	Tajikistan	14.2%
129	Brunei Darussalam	14.1%
130	Seychelles	14.0%
131	Djibouti	13.5%
132	Mauritania	12.7%
133	Sao Tome and Principe	12.4%
134	Cabo Verde	11.8%
135	Cameroon	11.4%
136	Ghana	10.9%
137	Mauritius	10.8%
138	Côte d’Ivoire	10.3%
138	Gambia	10.3%
140	Thailand	10.0%
141	Liberia	9.9%
142	Benin	9.6%
142	Congo	9.6%
144	Guinea-Bissau	9.5%
145	Nigeria	8.9%
146	Senegal	8.8%
147	Sierra Leone	8.7%
148	Maldives	8.6%
148	Mali	8.6%
148	Pakistan	8.6%
148	Sudan (former)	8.6%
152	Togo	8.4%
152	United Republic of Tanzania	8.4%
154	Somalia	8.3%
155	Angola	8.2%
156	Zambia	8.1%
157	Equatorial Guinea	8.0%
158	Comoros	7.8%
159	Guinea	7.7%
160	Central African Republic	7.5%
161	Mozambique	7.2%
162	Kenya	7.1%
163	Indonesia	6.9%
164	Democratic People’s Republic of Korea	6.8%
165	Democratic Republic of the Congo	6.7%
166	Bhutan	6.4%
166	Philippines	6.4%
168	China	6.2%
169	Chad	6.1%
169	Singapore	6.1%
171	Malawi	5.8%
171	Myanmar	5.8%
171	Rwanda	5.8%
174	Burkina Faso	5.6%
175	Afghanistan	5.5%
175	Niger	5.5%
177	Burundi	5.4%
178	Lao People’s Democratic Republic	5.3%
178	Madagascar	5.3%
178	Uganda	5.3%
181	Sri Lanka	5.2%
182	Eritrea	5.0%
183	Republic of Korea	4.7%
184	Ethiopia	4.5%
185	Japan	4.3%
186	Nepal	4.1%
187	Cambodia	3.9%
187	India	3.9%
189	Timor-Leste	3.8%
190	Bangladesh	3.6%
191	Viet Nam	2.1%

Top 10 Most Obese OECD Countries

The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) is an intergovernmental economic organization comprising 36 member countries with the goal of stimulating economic progress and world trade. The Economist magazine describes OECD as “the club of mostly rich countries.” The Telegraph says OECD members account for 80% of all world trade and investment. Below are the top 10 most obese OECD countries.

Global Rank	Country	% of Adult Population That Is Obese
12	United States	36.2%
17	Turkey	32.1%
22	New Zealand	30.8%
26	Canada	29.4%
27	Australia	29.0%
28	Mexico	28.9%
32	Chile	28.0%
33	United Kingdom	27.8%
41	Hungary	26.4%
44	Israel	26.1%

Sources:

World Health Organization, “Obesity and Overweight,” who.int, Mar. 3, 2020

World Health Organization, “Obesity: Situation and Trends,” who.int, 2014

World Health Organization, “Prevalence of Obesity among Adults, BMI [Greater than or Equal to] 30, Age-Standardized Estimates by Country” who.int (accessed Mar. 26, 2020)

Buttonwood, “The Economist Explains: What Is the OECD?,” economist.com, July 6, 2017

The Telegraph, “What Is the OECD?,” telegraph.co.uk, Apr. 12, 2011