Europe · Country profile
Obesity in Greece
27.4% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 77th highest of 199 countries.
27.4%
of adults live with obesity (2024)
Likely range 23.5%–31.5%
Source: WHO
2.8 million
adults with obesity (estimated number)
WHO rate × UN population
Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024
11.9%
of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)
Source: WHO
#77
highest adult obesity out of 199 countries
#1 = highest share
Source: WHO
The story of Greece in numbers
In 2024, about 27.4% of adults in Greece were living with obesity — about 1 in 4 adults, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 23.5% to 31.5%). That is roughly 2.8 million people aged 18 and over.
That is higher than the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 77th highest out of 199 countries. It is above the average for WHO’s Europe region (20.9%).
Back in 1980, the figure was 12.0%. Since then it has gone up by 15.4 percentage points — about 2.3 times the 1980 level. In people, that is a change from about 926 thousand to 2.8 million adults, partly because the population itself changed.
Men and women are affected about equally: 27.7% of men and 26.9% of women.
Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 11.9% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 3.3% in 1980 — around 176 thousand young people.
For context, 7.2% of adults had diabetes in 2022, 35.2% of adults did not get enough physical activity in 2022 and the food supply provided about 3,382 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 Greece: men, women and the world
What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 8.6% to 27.7%, and women from 15.1% to 26.9%.
- Men
- Women
- World
Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Men | Women | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 8.6% | 15.1% | 5.4% |
| 1985 | 9.4% | 15.6% | 6.0% |
| 1990 | 10.5% | 16.3% | 6.7% |
| 1995 | 12.5% | 17.3% | 7.6% |
| 2000 | 15.8% | 19.0% | 8.7% |
| 2005 | 19.8% | 21.2% | 10.1% |
| 2010 | 23.2% | 23.4% | 11.5% |
| 2015 | 25.3% | 25.0% | 13.0% |
| 2020 | 26.7% | 26.1% | 14.6% |
| 2024 | 27.7% | 26.9% | 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 Greece
What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 4.2% to 14.5%, and girls from 2.5% to 9.1%.
- Boys
- Girls
BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Greece compared (2024)
What this meansHow Greece’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.
- Greece27.4%
- High income countries24.7%
- Europe (WHO region)20.9%
- World16.2%
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Food supply: calories per person per day in Greece
What this meansThe food available per person went from 2,804 calories a day in 1961 to 3,382 in 2023. This counts food available, not food actually eaten.
- Greece
- World
Countries ranked nearby
- 73. Papua New Guinea28.0%
- 75. Ireland27.9%
- 76. Azerbaijan27.6%
- 77. Greece27.4%
- 77. United Kingdom27.4%
- 79. North Macedonia26.8%
- 80. Czechia26.3%
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