AFR vs South Africa: Overweight prevalence among children under 5 years of age (%)

AFR
4.2%
in 2024
South Africa
12.8%
in 2024
AFR rank
14th
South Africa rank
17th

Overweight prevalence among children under 5 years of age (%) over time

  • AFR
  • South Africa
468101214199020072024

How they compare

South Africa currently reports 12.8% against 4.2% in AFR, a difference of 8.6%.

That makes South Africa's figure about 3.0 times AFR's.

Across all 25 years both countries report, South Africa has been ahead every year.

AFR ranks 14th and South Africa ranks 17th of 19 groups.

South Africa has averaged higher in every one of the 3 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade AFR South Africa Difference Ahead
2000s 5.3% 12.0% 6.7% South Africa
2010s 3.7% 13.2% 9.5% South Africa
2020s 3.7% 13.0% 9.3% South Africa

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher overweight prevalence among children under 5 years of age (%), AFR or South Africa?
South Africa, at 12.8% against 4.2% in AFR as of 2024.
What is the difference in overweight prevalence among children under 5 years of age (%) between AFR and South Africa?
8.6%, with South Africa ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for AFR and South Africa?
25 years are reported by both, from 2000 to 2024.
How do AFR and South Africa rank globally for overweight prevalence among children under 5 years of age (%)?
AFR ranks 14th and South Africa ranks 17th of 19 groups.
Where does this data come from?
World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory, published as Overweight prevalence among children under 5 years of age (% weight-for-height >+2 SD), model-based estimates. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

AFR vs South Africa: Overweight prevalence among children under 5 years of age (%). Statizoid, drawing on World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory. Retrieved 26 September 2026, from https://health.statizoid.com/compare/overweight-prevalence-among-children-under-5-years-of-age-percent-weight-for-height-2-sd-2/afr/south-africa/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://health.statizoid.com/compare/overweight-prevalence-among-children-under-5-years-of-age-percent-weight-for-height-2-sd-2/afr/south-africa/">AFR vs South Africa: Overweight prevalence among children under 5 years of age (%)</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Overweight prevalence among children under 5 years of age (% weight-for-height >+2 SD), model-based estimates
Source
World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO)
Coverage
183 places, 4,765 data points, 1990–2024
Last refreshed