Prevalence of overweight, weight for height in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea: Prevalence of overweight, weight for height was 18.5% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Prevalence of overweight, weight for height in Papua New Guinea, 2000–2024
Source: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Analysis
In 2024, prevalence of overweight, weight for height in Papua New Guinea stood at 18.5%.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.5% on the previous year and up 37.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prevalence of overweight, weight for height in Papua New Guinea peaked at 18.6% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 4.5%, in 2000.
Papua New Guinea ranks 2nd of 163 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
Prevalence of overweight, weight for height in Papua New Guinea, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 4.5% | — |
| 2001 | 4.8% | +6.7% |
| 2002 | 5.2% | +8.3% |
| 2003 | 5.6% | +7.7% |
| 2004 | 6.1% | +8.9% |
| 2005 | 6.6% | +8.2% |
| 2006 | 7.2% | +9.1% |
| 2007 | 7.9% | +9.7% |
| 2008 | 8.6% | +8.9% |
| 2009 | 9.3% | +8.1% |
| 2010 | 10.1% | +8.6% |
| 2011 | 10.9% | +7.9% |
| 2012 | 11.7% | +7.3% |
| 2013 | 12.6% | +7.7% |
| 2014 | 13.5% | +7.1% |
| 2015 | 14.4% | +6.7% |
| 2016 | 15.3% | +6.3% |
| 2017 | 16.0% | +4.6% |
| 2018 | 16.8% | +5.0% |
| 2019 | 17.4% | +3.6% |
| 2020 | 17.9% | +2.9% |
| 2021 | 18.3% | +2.2% |
| 2022 | 18.5% | +1.1% |
| 2023 | 18.6% | +0.5% |
| 2024 | 18.5% | -0.5% |
Papua New Guinea compared with similar countries
- Papua New Guinea's 18.5% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 4.7%, 4.0× the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Papua New Guinea's 18.5% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 5.5%, 3.4× the median. (27 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 6.6% | 4.5% | 9.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 13.9% | 10.1% | 17.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 18.4% | 17.9% | 18.6% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea
More health data for Papua New Guinea
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -1.77 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate 0.3741 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 1,127 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 2,501 deaths (2100)
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 2 (2023)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate 0.27 % 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 0.0555 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate 0.2621 % 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 Papua New Guinea?
- Prevalence of overweight, weight for height in Papua New Guinea was 18.5% 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 Papua New Guinea?
- The highest recorded value was 18.6% in 2023.
- What is the lowest prevalence of overweight, weight for height recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.5% in 2000.
- How does Papua New Guinea rank for prevalence of overweight, weight for height?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 2nd out of 163 countries with data for 2024.
- Is prevalence of overweight, weight for height rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 37.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Papua New Guinea 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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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.