Europe · Country profile
Obesity in Cyprus
21.6% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 110th highest of 199 countries.
21.6%
of adults live with obesity (2024)
Likely range 15.0%–29.3%
Source: WHO
261 thousand
adults with obesity (estimated number)
WHO rate × UN population
Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024
13.6%
of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)
Source: WHO
#110
highest adult obesity out of 199 countries
#1 = highest share
Source: WHO
The story of Cyprus in numbers
In 2024, about 21.6% of adults in Cyprus were living with obesity — about 1 in 5 adults, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 15.0% to 29.3%). That is roughly 261 thousand people aged 18 and over.
That is higher than the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 110th 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 13.2%. Since then it has gone up by 8.4 percentage points. In people, that is a change from about 60 thousand to 261 thousand adults, partly because the population itself changed.
Men are more likely to live with obesity than women: 23.2% compared with 19.8%.
Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 13.6% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 4.1% in 1980 — around 29 thousand young people.
For context, 7.3% of adults had diabetes in 2022, 40.8% of adults did not get enough physical activity in 2022 and the food supply provided about 2,876 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 Cyprus: men, women and the world
What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 10.6% to 23.2%, and women from 15.5% to 19.8%.
- Men
- Women
- World
Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Men | Women | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 10.6% | 15.5% | 5.4% |
| 1985 | 11.5% | 15.8% | 6.0% |
| 1990 | 12.7% | 16.1% | 6.7% |
| 1995 | 14.7% | 16.7% | 7.6% |
| 2000 | 17.6% | 17.8% | 8.7% |
| 2005 | 20.7% | 19.0% | 10.1% |
| 2010 | 22.8% | 19.8% | 11.5% |
| 2015 | 23.3% | 20.0% | 13.0% |
| 2020 | 23.2% | 19.9% | 14.6% |
| 2024 | 23.2% | 19.8% | 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 Cyprus
What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 4.8% to 16.6%, and girls from 3.3% to 10.3%.
- Boys
- Girls
BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Cyprus compared (2024)
What this meansHow Cyprus’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.
- High income countries24.7%
- Cyprus21.6%
- Europe (WHO region)20.9%
- World16.2%
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Food supply: calories per person per day in Cyprus
What this meansThe food available per person went from 2,397 calories a day in 1961 to 2,876 in 2023. This counts food available, not food actually eaten.
- Cyprus
- World
Countries ranked nearby
- 107. Poland21.8%
- 107. Serbia21.8%
- 107. Solomon Islands21.8%
- 110. Cyprus21.6%
- 110. Morocco21.6%
- 112. Lithuania21.3%
- 113. Kazakhstan21.1%
Last updated