Western Pacific · Country profile
Obesity in American Samoa
75.9% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 1st highest of 199 countries.
75.9%
of adults live with obesity (2024)
Likely range 69.1%–81.9%
Source: WHO
24 thousand
adults with obesity (estimated number)
WHO rate × UN population
Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024
27.1%
of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)
Source: WHO
#1
highest adult obesity out of 199 countries
#1 = highest share
Source: WHO
The story of American Samoa in numbers
In 2024, about 75.9% of adults in American Samoa were living with obesity, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 69.1% to 81.9%). That is roughly 24 thousand people aged 18 and over.
That is higher than the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 1st highest out of 199 countries. It is above the average for WHO’s Western Pacific region (9.7%).
Back in 1980, the figure was 52.3%. Since then it has gone up by 23.6 percentage points. In people, that is a change from about 8,000 to 24 thousand adults, partly because the population itself changed.
Women are more likely to live with obesity than men: 81.1% compared with 70.6%.
Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 27.1% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 6.3% in 1980 — around 4,000 young people.
For context, 28.9% of adults had diabetes in 2022. These numbers don’t prove what causes obesity, but they help paint the picture.
American Samoa has a national tax on sugar-sweetened drinks, first introduced in 2001, according to the World Bank’s Global SSB Tax Database.
How it changed
Adults with obesity in American Samoa: men, women and the world
What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 43.6% to 70.6%, and women from 61.5% to 81.1%.
- Men
- Women
- World
Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Men | Women | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 43.6% | 61.5% | 5.4% |
| 1985 | 51.7% | 65.0% | 6.0% |
| 1990 | 58.4% | 68.2% | 6.7% |
| 1995 | 62.3% | 70.8% | 7.6% |
| 2000 | 64.2% | 72.9% | 8.7% |
| 2005 | 65.5% | 74.7% | 10.1% |
| 2010 | 67.0% | 76.5% | 11.5% |
| 2015 | 68.3% | 78.3% | 13.0% |
| 2020 | 69.6% | 80.0% | 14.6% |
| 2024 | 70.6% | 81.1% | 16.2% |
Age-standardized WHO estimates. Shaded bands show the 95% uncertainty range.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Children & teens (5–19) with obesity in American Samoa
What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 5.1% to 28.8%, and girls from 7.5% to 25.4%.
- Boys
- Girls
BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
American Samoa compared (2024)
What this meansHow American Samoa’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.
- American Samoa75.9%
- Upper-middle income countries16.7%
- World16.2%
- Western Pacific (WHO region)9.7%
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Countries ranked nearby
- 1. American Samoa75.9%
- 2. Tonga73.8%
- 3. Cook Islands72.4%
- 4. Naoero71.4%
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