Americas · Country profile
Obesity in Jamaica
35.2% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 34th highest of 199 countries.
35.2%
of adults live with obesity (2024)
Likely range 30.8%–39.7%
Source: WHO
776 thousand
adults with obesity (estimated number)
WHO rate × UN population
Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024
14.3%
of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)
Source: WHO
#34
highest adult obesity out of 199 countries
#1 = highest share
Source: WHO
The story of Jamaica in numbers
In 2024, about 35.2% of adults in Jamaica were living with obesity — about 1 in 3 adults, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 30.8% to 39.7%). That is roughly 776 thousand people aged 18 and over.
That is higher than the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 34th highest out of 199 countries. It is about level with the average for WHO’s Americas region (34.4%).
Back in 1980, the figure was 6.6%. Since then it has gone up by 28.6 percentage points — about 5.3 times the 1980 level. In people, that is a change from about 69 thousand to 776 thousand adults, partly because the population itself changed.
Women are more likely to live with obesity than men: 50.1% compared with 19.5%.
Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 14.3% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 2.0% in 1980 — around 84 thousand young people.
For context, 24.5% of adults had diabetes in 2022, 38.6% of adults did not get enough physical activity in 2022 and the food supply provided about 2,892 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 Jamaica: men, women and the world
What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 2.1% to 19.5%, and women from 10.7% to 50.1%.
- Men
- Women
- World
Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Men | Women | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 2.1% | 10.7% | 5.4% |
| 1985 | 2.8% | 13.5% | 6.0% |
| 1990 | 3.7% | 16.9% | 6.7% |
| 1995 | 5.2% | 21.1% | 7.6% |
| 2000 | 7.3% | 26.3% | 8.7% |
| 2005 | 9.8% | 31.7% | 10.1% |
| 2010 | 12.3% | 36.8% | 11.5% |
| 2015 | 14.7% | 41.7% | 13.0% |
| 2020 | 17.2% | 46.5% | 14.6% |
| 2024 | 19.5% | 50.1% | 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 Jamaica
What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 1.8% to 12.5%, and girls from 2.2% to 16.2%.
- Boys
- Girls
BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Jamaica compared (2024)
What this meansHow Jamaica’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.
- Jamaica35.2%
- Americas (WHO region)34.4%
- Upper-middle income countries16.7%
- World16.2%
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Food supply: calories per person per day in Jamaica
What this meansThe food available per person went from 1,891 calories a day in 1961 to 2,892 in 2023. This counts food available, not food actually eaten.
- Jamaica
- World
Countries ranked nearby
- 31. Brunei37.1%
- 32. Georgia35.7%
- 33. Jordan35.4%
- 34. Jamaica35.2%
- 35. Bahrain34.9%
- 35. Nicaragua34.9%
- 35. Uruguay34.9%
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