Prevalence of overweight, female in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia: Prevalence of overweight, female was 73.7% in 2022. ▲ Rising
Prevalence of overweight, female in Saudi Arabia, 1990–2022
Source: World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory Data Repository (http://apps.who.int/ghodata/). Measured in % of female adults.
Analysis
In 2022, prevalence of overweight, female in Saudi Arabia stood at 73.7%. That is the highest value across all 33 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.3% on the previous year and up 3.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prevalence of overweight, female in Saudi Arabia peaked at 73.7% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 62.6%, in 1990.
Saudi Arabia ranks 25th of 196 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 33 years of available data.
Prevalence of overweight, female in Saudi Arabia, year by year
| Year | % of female adults | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 62.6% | — |
| 1991 | 62.9% | +0.5% |
| 1992 | 63.2% | +0.5% |
| 1993 | 63.5% | +0.5% |
| 1994 | 63.9% | +0.5% |
| 1995 | 64.3% | +0.6% |
| 1996 | 64.7% | +0.7% |
| 1997 | 65.2% | +0.7% |
| 1998 | 65.6% | +0.7% |
| 1999 | 66.2% | +0.8% |
| 2000 | 66.7% | +0.8% |
| 2001 | 67.2% | +0.8% |
| 2002 | 67.7% | +0.7% |
| 2003 | 68.2% | +0.7% |
| 2004 | 68.6% | +0.6% |
| 2005 | 69.0% | +0.6% |
| 2006 | 69.3% | +0.5% |
| 2007 | 69.7% | +0.5% |
| 2008 | 70.0% | +0.4% |
| 2009 | 70.3% | +0.4% |
| 2010 | 70.5% | +0.4% |
| 2011 | 70.8% | +0.4% |
| 2012 | 71.1% | +0.4% |
| 2013 | 71.4% | +0.4% |
| 2014 | 71.7% | +0.4% |
| 2015 | 72.0% | +0.4% |
| 2016 | 72.2% | +0.4% |
| 2017 | 72.5% | +0.4% |
| 2018 | 72.7% | +0.3% |
| 2019 | 73.0% | +0.3% |
| 2020 | 73.2% | +0.3% |
| 2021 | 73.4% | +0.3% |
| 2022 | 73.7% | +0.3% |
Saudi Arabia compared with similar countries
- Saudi Arabia's 73.7% is above the median for high income countries, which is 55.4%, 1.3× the median. (66 countries reporting)
- Saudi Arabia's 73.7% is above the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 68.8%, 1.1× the median. (23 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 64.2% | 62.6% | 66.2% | 10 |
| 2000s | 68.6% | 66.7% | 70.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 71.8% | 70.5% | 73.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 73.4% | 73.2% | 73.7% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Saudi Arabia
More health data for Saudi Arabia
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -0.8373 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate 0.3736 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 483.6 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 829 deaths (2100)
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 1 (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate 5.31 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, per capita 0.0384 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate 5.38 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is prevalence of overweight, female in Saudi Arabia?
- Prevalence of overweight, female in Saudi Arabia was 73.7% in 2022, according to World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory Data Repository (http://apps.who.int/ghodata/).
- What is the highest prevalence of overweight, female recorded in Saudi Arabia?
- The highest recorded value was 73.7% in 2022.
- What is the lowest prevalence of overweight, female recorded in Saudi Arabia?
- The lowest recorded value was 62.6% in 1990.
- How does Saudi Arabia rank for prevalence of overweight, female?
- Saudi Arabia ranks 25th out of 196 countries with data for 2022.
- Is prevalence of overweight, female rising or falling in Saudi Arabia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Saudi Arabia data come from?
- The figures come from World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory Data Repository (http://apps.who.int/ghodata/), published as part of Prevalence of overweight, female (% of female adults). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 33 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Prevalence of overweight female adults is the percentage of females ages 18 and over whose Body Mass Index (BMI) is more than 25 kg/m2. Body Mass Index (BMI) is a simple index of weight-for-height, or the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters.