Eastern Mediterranean · Country profile
Obesity in Jordan
35.4% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 33rd highest of 199 countries.
35.4%
of adults live with obesity (2024)
Likely range 33.3%–37.4%
Source: WHO
2.4 million
adults with obesity (estimated number)
WHO rate × UN population
Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024
14.1%
of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)
Source: WHO
#33
highest adult obesity out of 199 countries
#1 = highest share
Source: WHO
The story of Jordan in numbers
In 2024, about 35.4% of adults in Jordan were living with obesity — about 1 in 3 adults, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 33.3% to 37.4%). That is roughly 2.4 million people aged 18 and over.
That is higher than the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 33rd highest out of 199 countries. It is above the average for WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean region (28.8%).
Back in 1980, the figure was 17.8%. Since then it has gone up by 17.6 percentage points — about 2.0 times the 1980 level. In people, that is a change from about 142 thousand to 2.4 million adults, partly because the population itself changed.
Women are more likely to live with obesity than men: 41.9% compared with 29.2%.
Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 14.1% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 3.1% in 1980 — around 497 thousand young people.
For context, 18.4% of adults had diabetes in 2022, 28.2% of adults did not get enough physical activity in 2022 and the food supply provided about 2,556 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 Jordan: men, women and the world
What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 9.0% to 29.2%, and women from 26.5% to 41.9%.
- Men
- Women
- World
Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Men | Women | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 9.0% | 26.5% | 5.4% |
| 1985 | 11.5% | 29.5% | 6.0% |
| 1990 | 14.6% | 32.8% | 6.7% |
| 1995 | 18.1% | 35.9% | 7.6% |
| 2000 | 21.9% | 39.0% | 8.7% |
| 2005 | 25.8% | 41.2% | 10.1% |
| 2010 | 28.9% | 42.5% | 11.5% |
| 2015 | 30.4% | 43.1% | 13.0% |
| 2020 | 30.1% | 42.7% | 14.6% |
| 2024 | 29.2% | 41.9% | 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 Jordan
What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 3.0% to 16.5%, and girls from 3.3% to 11.7%.
- Boys
- Girls
BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Jordan compared (2024)
What this meansHow Jordan’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.
- Jordan35.4%
- Eastern Mediterranean (WHO region)28.8%
- Upper-middle income countries16.7%
- World16.2%
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Food supply: calories per person per day in Jordan
What this meansThe food available per person went from 4,064 calories a day in 1961 to 2,556 in 2023. This counts food available, not food actually eaten.
- Jordan
- World
Countries ranked nearby
- 30. Argentina37.2%
- 31. Brunei37.1%
- 32. Georgia35.7%
- 33. Jordan35.4%
- 34. Jamaica35.2%
- 35. Bahrain34.9%
- 35. Nicaragua34.9%
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