Share of children and adolescents who are overweight or obese in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe: Share of children and adolescents who are overweight or obese was 10.8% in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
10.8%
Change on year
up 3.1%
World rank
177th
of 199 countries
All-time high
10.8%
in 2024
All-time low
4.2%
in 1981
Years of data
45
1980–2024

Share of children and adolescents who are overweight or obese in Zimbabwe, 1980–2024

02.557.5101980200220241980: 4.2 %1981: 4.2 %1982: 4.2 %1983: 4.3 %1984: 4.3 %1985: 4.4 %1986: 4.5 %1987: 4.6 %1988: 4.8 %1989: 4.9 %1990: 5 %1991: 5.1 %1992: 5.3 %1993: 5.5 %1994: 5.7 %1995: 5.8 %1996: 5.9 %1997: 6.1 %1998: 6.2 %1999: 6.3 %2000: 6.5 %2001: 6.6 %2002: 6.8 %2003: 6.9 %2004: 7 %2005: 7.1 %2006: 7.2 %2007: 7.3 %2008: 7.4 %2009: 7.5 %2010: 7.6 %2011: 7.7 %2012: 7.8 %2013: 8 %2014: 8.1 %2015: 8.3 %2016: 8.6 %2017: 8.8 %2018: 9.1 %2019: 9.3 %2020: 9.6 %2021: 9.9 %2022: 10.2 %2023: 10.5 %2024: 10.8 %

Source: World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

Zimbabwe recorded 10.8% for share of children and adolescents who are overweight or obese in 2024. That is the highest value across all 45 years on record.

That represents a change of up 3.1% on the previous year and up 32.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of children and adolescents who are overweight or obese in Zimbabwe peaked at 10.8% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 4.2%, in 1981.

That places Zimbabwe 177th out of 199 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 45 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1980s 4.4% 4.2% 4.9% 10
1990s 5.7% 5.0% 6.3% 10
2000s 7.0% 6.5% 7.5% 10
2010s 8.3% 7.6% 9.3% 10
2020s 10.2% 9.6% 10.8% 5

Countries ranked near Zimbabwe

  1. 174 Guinea-Bissau 11.4% compare
  2. 175 Guinea 10.8% compare
  3. 176 Togo 10.8% compare
  4. 178 Somalia 10.1% compare
  5. 179 Djibouti 9.9% compare
  6. 180 Congo 9.9% compare

See the full ranking of 199 places →

More health data for Zimbabwe

All data for Zimbabwe →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of children and adolescents who are overweight or obese in Zimbabwe?
Share of children and adolescents who are overweight or obese in Zimbabwe was 10.8% in 2024, according to World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest share of children and adolescents who are overweight or obese recorded in Zimbabwe?
The highest recorded value was 10.8% in 2024.
What is the lowest share of children and adolescents who are overweight or obese recorded in Zimbabwe?
The lowest recorded value was 4.2% in 1981.
How does Zimbabwe rank for share of children and adolescents who are overweight or obese?
Zimbabwe ranks 177th out of 199 countries with data for 2024.
Is share of children and adolescents who are overweight or obese rising or falling in Zimbabwe?
Over the last ten years it is up 32.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Zimbabwe data come from?
The figures come from World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of children and adolescents who are overweight or obese. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

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About this data

Indicator
Share of children and adolescents who are overweight or obese
Unit
%
Source
World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
199 places, 8,955 data points, 1980–2024
Last refreshed

Share of children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 years old that are defined as either overweight or obese. This means their weight-for-height is more than one standard deviations from the median of the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Standards.