Prevalence of overweight, weight for height in South Asia
South Asia: Prevalence of overweight, weight for height was 3.4% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Prevalence of overweight, weight for height in South Asia, 2000–2024
Source: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Analysis
South Asia recorded 3.4% for prevalence of overweight, weight for height in 2024. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 8.0% on the previous year and up 60.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prevalence of overweight, weight for height in South Asia peaked at 3.4% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 2.0%, in 2009.
That places South Asia 41st out of 45 groups with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
Prevalence of overweight, weight for height in South Asia, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 2.3% | — |
| 2001 | 2.3% | -2.1% |
| 2002 | 2.2% | -2.2% |
| 2003 | 2.2% | -2.2% |
| 2004 | 2.1% | -1.8% |
| 2005 | 2.1% | -1.9% |
| 2006 | 2.1% | -1.4% |
| 2007 | 2.0% | -1.4% |
| 2008 | 2.0% | -1.0% |
| 2009 | 2.0% | -0.5% |
| 2010 | 2.0% | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 2.0% | +0.5% |
| 2012 | 2.0% | +0.5% |
| 2013 | 2.1% | +1.5% |
| 2014 | 2.1% | +1.4% |
| 2015 | 2.1% | +1.9% |
| 2016 | 2.2% | +2.8% |
| 2017 | 2.3% | +3.2% |
| 2018 | 2.4% | +3.5% |
| 2019 | 2.5% | +4.3% |
| 2020 | 2.6% | +4.9% |
| 2021 | 2.7% | +5.8% |
| 2022 | 2.9% | +6.6% |
| 2023 | 3.1% | +7.6% |
| 2024 | 3.4% | +8.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.2% | 2.0% | 2.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.9% | 2.6% | 3.4% | 5 |
Countries ranked near South Asia
More health data for South Asia
- Population ages 65-69, male, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 20-24, male, annual growth rate 0.1112 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 65-69, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 65-69, female, per capita 0.0146 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 65-69, male, annual growth rate 2.73 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 20-24, female, per capita 0.043 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 70-74, female, annual growth rate 4.29 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 70-74, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 20-24, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 65-69, female, annual growth rate 2.63 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is prevalence of overweight, weight for height in South Asia?
- Prevalence of overweight, weight for height in South Asia was 3.4% 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 South Asia?
- The highest recorded value was 3.4% in 2024.
- What is the lowest prevalence of overweight, weight for height recorded in South Asia?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.0% in 2009.
- How does South Asia rank for prevalence of overweight, weight for height?
- South Asia ranks 41st out of 45 groups with data for 2024.
- Is prevalence of overweight, weight for height rising or falling in South Asia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 60.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Asia 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.
Download this data
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.