Europe · Country profile
Obesity in Bulgaria
20.3% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 120th highest of 199 countries.
20.3%
of adults live with obesity (2024)
Likely range 17.5%–23.2%
Source: WHO
1.3 million
adults with obesity (estimated number)
WHO rate × UN population
Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024
12.4%
of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)
Source: WHO
#120
highest adult obesity out of 199 countries
#1 = highest share
Source: WHO
The story of Bulgaria in numbers
In 2024, about 20.3% of adults in Bulgaria were living with obesity — about 1 in 5 adults, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 17.5% to 23.2%). That is roughly 1.3 million people aged 18 and over.
That is higher than the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 120th highest out of 199 countries. It is about level with the average for WHO’s Europe region (20.9%).
Back in 1980, the figure was 10.7%. Since then it has gone up by 9.6 percentage points. In people, that is a change from about 770 thousand to 1.3 million adults, partly because the population itself changed.
Men are more likely to live with obesity than women: 23.3% compared with 17.3%.
Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 12.4% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 2.8% in 1980 — around 125 thousand young people.
For context, 10.7% of adults had diabetes in 2022, 32.3% of adults did not get enough physical activity in 2022 and the food supply provided about 3,000 calories per person per day in 2023. These numbers don’t prove what causes obesity, but they help paint the picture.
How it changed
Adults with obesity in Bulgaria: men, women and the world
What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 7.9% to 23.3%, and women from 13.3% to 17.3%.
- Men
- Women
- World
Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Men | Women | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 7.9% | 13.3% | 5.4% |
| 1985 | 9.0% | 13.2% | 6.0% |
| 1990 | 10.2% | 13.3% | 6.7% |
| 1995 | 11.5% | 13.6% | 7.6% |
| 2000 | 13.5% | 14.2% | 8.7% |
| 2005 | 15.9% | 15.2% | 10.1% |
| 2010 | 18.3% | 16.2% | 11.5% |
| 2015 | 20.2% | 17.0% | 13.0% |
| 2020 | 21.8% | 17.2% | 14.6% |
| 2024 | 23.3% | 17.3% | 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 Bulgaria
What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 2.8% to 14.5%, and girls from 2.8% to 10.2%.
- Boys
- Girls
BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Bulgaria compared (2024)
What this meansHow Bulgaria’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.
- Europe (WHO region)20.9%
- Bulgaria20.3%
- Upper-middle income countries16.7%
- World16.2%
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Food supply: calories per person per day in Bulgaria
What this meansThe food available per person went from 3,171 calories a day in 1961 to 3,000 in 2023. This counts food available, not food actually eaten.
- Bulgaria
- World
Countries ranked nearby
- 117. Afghanistan20.6%
- 117. Belarus20.6%
- 117. Germany20.6%
- 120. Bulgaria20.3%
- 120. Estonia20.3%
- 122. Norway20.2%
- 123. Botswana19.8%
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