Europe · Country profile
Obesity in Moldova
22.3% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 100th highest of 199 countries.
22.3%
of adults live with obesity (2024)
Likely range 19.6%–25.1%
Source: WHO
627 thousand
adults with obesity (estimated number)
WHO rate × UN population
Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024
5.0%
of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)
Source: WHO
#100
highest adult obesity out of 199 countries
#1 = highest share
Source: WHO
The story of Moldova in numbers
In 2024, about 22.3% of adults in Moldova were living with obesity — about 1 in 4 adults, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 19.6% to 25.1%). That is roughly 627 thousand people aged 18 and over.
That is higher than the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 100th 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 18.2%. Since then it has gone up by 4.1 percentage points. In people, that is a change from about 488 thousand to 627 thousand adults, partly because the population itself changed.
Women are more likely to live with obesity than men: 23.1% compared with 20.8%.
Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 5.0% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 1.3% in 1980 — around 31 thousand young people.
For context, 9.2% of adults had diabetes in 2022, 10.8% of adults did not get enough physical activity in 2022 and the food supply provided about 2,504 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 Moldova: men, women and the world
What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 8.7% to 20.8%, and women from 25.2% to 23.1%.
- Men
- Women
- World
Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Men | Women | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 8.7% | 25.2% | 5.4% |
| 1985 | 9.5% | 25.1% | 6.0% |
| 1990 | 10.5% | 25.2% | 6.7% |
| 1995 | 11.7% | 25.5% | 7.6% |
| 2000 | 13.7% | 26.3% | 8.7% |
| 2005 | 16.1% | 27.0% | 10.1% |
| 2010 | 18.2% | 27.0% | 11.5% |
| 2015 | 19.6% | 26.1% | 13.0% |
| 2020 | 20.3% | 24.5% | 14.6% |
| 2024 | 20.8% | 23.1% | 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 Moldova
What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 1.4% to 5.4%, and girls from 1.2% to 4.7%.
- Boys
- Girls
BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Moldova compared (2024)
What this meansHow Moldova’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.
- Moldova22.3%
- Europe (WHO region)20.9%
- World16.2%
- Lower-middle income countries12.0%
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Food supply: calories per person per day in Moldova
What this meansThe food available per person went from 2,432 calories a day in 1992 to 2,504 in 2023. This counts food available, not food actually eaten.
- Moldova
- World
Countries ranked nearby
- 98. Gabon22.7%
- 99. Vanuatu22.6%
- 100. Latvia22.3%
- 100. Moldova22.3%
- 102. Iceland22.2%
- 102. Israel22.2%
- 102. Lesotho22.2%
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