Prevalence of overweight, weight for height in Maldives
Maldives: Prevalence of overweight, weight for height was 3.0% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Prevalence of overweight, weight for height in Maldives, 2000–2024
Source: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Analysis
In 2024, prevalence of overweight, weight for height in Maldives stood at 3.0%. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 9.1% on the previous year and down 44.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prevalence of overweight, weight for height in Maldives peaked at 5.9% in 2008 and was at its lowest, 3.0%, in 2024.
Maldives ranks 137th of 163 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Prevalence of overweight, weight for height in Maldives, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 4.2% | — |
| 2001 | 4.5% | +7.1% |
| 2002 | 4.7% | +4.4% |
| 2003 | 5.0% | +6.4% |
| 2004 | 5.2% | +4.0% |
| 2005 | 5.4% | +3.8% |
| 2006 | 5.6% | +3.7% |
| 2007 | 5.8% | +3.6% |
| 2008 | 5.9% | +1.7% |
| 2009 | 5.9% | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 5.9% | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 5.9% | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 5.8% | -1.7% |
| 2013 | 5.6% | -3.4% |
| 2014 | 5.4% | -3.6% |
| 2015 | 5.2% | -3.7% |
| 2016 | 5.0% | -3.8% |
| 2017 | 4.8% | -4.0% |
| 2018 | 4.5% | -6.2% |
| 2019 | 4.3% | -4.4% |
| 2020 | 4.0% | -7.0% |
| 2021 | 3.8% | -5.0% |
| 2022 | 3.5% | -7.9% |
| 2023 | 3.3% | -5.7% |
| 2024 | 3.0% | -9.1% |
Maldives compared with similar countries
- Maldives's 3.0% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 7.5%, 40% of the median. (54 countries reporting)
- Maldives's 3.0% is above the median for South Asia, which is 2.4%, 1.2× the median. (6 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 5.2% | 4.2% | 5.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 5.2% | 4.3% | 5.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.5% | 3.0% | 4.0% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Maldives
More health data for Maldives
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate -2.69 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 1,560 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 5 deaths (2100)
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 0 (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate -2.2 % 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 0.0264 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate -3.8 % 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, weight for height in Maldives?
- Prevalence of overweight, weight for height in Maldives was 3.0% in 2024, according to Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
- What is the highest prevalence of overweight, weight for height recorded in Maldives?
- The highest recorded value was 5.9% in 2008.
- What is the lowest prevalence of overweight, weight for height recorded in Maldives?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.0% in 2024.
- How does Maldives rank for prevalence of overweight, weight for height?
- Maldives ranks 137th out of 163 countries with data for 2024.
- Is prevalence of overweight, weight for height rising or falling in Maldives?
- Over the last ten years it is down 44.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Maldives data come from?
- The figures come from Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), published as part of Prevalence of overweight, weight for height (modeled estimate, % of children under 5). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Prevalence of overweight children is the percentage of children under age 5 whose weight for height is more than two standard deviations above the median for the international reference population of the corresponding age as established by the WHO's 2006 Child Growth Standards.