Prevalence of overweight, weight for height in World
World: Prevalence of overweight, weight for height was 5.5% in 2024. ▬ Flat
Prevalence of overweight, weight for height in World, 2000–2024
Source: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Analysis
In 2024, prevalence of overweight, weight for height in World stood at 5.5%. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of up 3.0% on the previous year and up 4.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prevalence of overweight, weight for height in World peaked at 5.5% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 5.1%, in 2019.
That places World 24th out of 45 groups with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
Prevalence of overweight, weight for height in World, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 5.3% | — |
| 2001 | 5.3% | +0.8% |
| 2002 | 5.4% | +0.8% |
| 2003 | 5.4% | +0.7% |
| 2004 | 5.4% | +0.4% |
| 2005 | 5.4% | +0.2% |
| 2006 | 5.4% | +0.2% |
| 2007 | 5.4% | -0.2% |
| 2008 | 5.4% | -0.2% |
| 2009 | 5.4% | -0.4% |
| 2010 | 5.4% | -0.6% |
| 2011 | 5.3% | -0.6% |
| 2012 | 5.3% | -0.6% |
| 2013 | 5.3% | -0.8% |
| 2014 | 5.2% | -0.6% |
| 2015 | 5.2% | -0.6% |
| 2016 | 5.2% | -0.4% |
| 2017 | 5.2% | -0.4% |
| 2018 | 5.2% | -0.4% |
| 2019 | 5.1% | -0.2% |
| 2020 | 5.2% | +0.2% |
| 2021 | 5.2% | +0.6% |
| 2022 | 5.2% | +1.0% |
| 2023 | 5.3% | +1.7% |
| 2024 | 5.5% | +3.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 5.4% | 5.3% | 5.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 5.2% | 5.1% | 5.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 5.3% | 5.2% | 5.5% | 5 |
Countries ranked near World
More health data for World
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 2,458 (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate -0.47 % 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 0.0381 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate -0.6031 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, per capita 0.0401 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 05-09, female, annual growth rate -0.915 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 05-09, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 05-09, female, per capita 0.04 units per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is prevalence of overweight, weight for height in World?
- Prevalence of overweight, weight for height in World was 5.5% 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 World?
- The highest recorded value was 5.5% in 2024.
- What is the lowest prevalence of overweight, weight for height recorded in World?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.1% in 2019.
- How does World rank for prevalence of overweight, weight for height?
- World ranks 24th out of 45 groups with data for 2024.
- Is prevalence of overweight, weight for height rising or falling in World?
- Over the last ten years it is up 4.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
- Where does this World 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.