Western Pacific · Country profile
Obesity in China
9.3% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 177th highest of 199 countries.
9.3%
of adults live with obesity (2024)
Likely range 7.9%–10.8%
Source: WHO
104 million
adults with obesity (estimated number)
WHO rate × UN population
Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024
12.7%
of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)
Source: WHO
#177
highest adult obesity out of 199 countries
#1 = highest share
Source: WHO
The story of China in numbers
In 2024, about 9.3% of adults in China were living with obesity — about 1 in 11 adults, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 7.9% to 10.8%). That is roughly 104 million people aged 18 and over.
That is lower than the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 177th highest out of 199 countries. It is about level with the average for WHO’s Western Pacific region (9.7%).
Back in 1980, the figure was 0.8%. Since then it has gone up by 8.5 percentage points — about 11.6 times the 1980 level. In people, that is a change from about 3.9 million to 104 million adults, partly because the population itself changed.
Men are more likely to live with obesity than women: 10.0% compared with 8.4%.
Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 12.7% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 0.3% in 1980 — around 32.8 million young people.
For context, 11.2% of adults had diabetes in 2022, 23.8% of adults did not get enough physical activity in 2022 and the food supply provided about 3,527 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 China: men, women and the world
What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 0.3% to 10.0%, and women from 1.4% to 8.4%.
- Men
- Women
- World
Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Men | Women | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 0.3% | 1.4% | 5.4% |
| 1985 | 0.5% | 1.6% | 6.0% |
| 1990 | 0.8% | 1.9% | 6.7% |
| 1995 | 1.2% | 2.3% | 7.6% |
| 2000 | 1.7% | 2.7% | 8.7% |
| 2005 | 2.5% | 3.3% | 10.1% |
| 2010 | 3.7% | 4.2% | 11.5% |
| 2015 | 5.3% | 5.4% | 13.0% |
| 2020 | 7.6% | 6.9% | 14.6% |
| 2024 | 10.0% | 8.4% | 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 China
What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 0.3% to 16.9%, and girls from 0.2% to 7.9%.
- Boys
- Girls
BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
China compared (2024)
What this meansHow China’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.
- Upper-middle income countries16.7%
- World16.2%
- Western Pacific (WHO region)9.7%
- China9.3%
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Food supply: calories per person per day in China
What this meansThe food available per person went from 1,426 calories a day in 1961 to 3,527 in 2023. This counts food available, not food actually eaten.
- China
- World
Countries ranked nearby
- 173. Mozambique10.6%
- 175. Philippines9.6%
- 176. Uganda9.5%
- 177. China9.3%
- 178. Laos9.2%
- 179. South Sudan8.9%
- 180. South Korea8.4%
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