Western Pacific · Country profile
Obesity in Niue
66.9% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 6th highest of 199 countries.
66.9%
of adults live with obesity (2024)
Likely range 59.9%–73.4%
Source: WHO
1,000
adults with obesity (estimated number)
WHO rate × UN population
Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024
38.6%
of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)
Source: WHO
#6
highest adult obesity out of 199 countries
#1 = highest share
Source: WHO
The story of Niue in numbers
In 2024, about 66.9% of adults in Niue were living with obesity, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 59.9% to 73.4%). That is roughly 1,000 people aged 18 and over.
That is higher than the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 6th highest out of 199 countries. It is above the average for WHO’s Western Pacific region (9.7%).
Back in 1980, the figure was 40.7%. Since then it has gone up by 26.2 percentage points. In people, that is a change from about 1,000 to 1,000 adults, partly because the population itself changed.
Women are more likely to live with obesity than men: 70.2% compared with 63.2%.
Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 38.6% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 7.4% in 1980.
For context, 23.5% of adults had diabetes in 2022 and 7.4% of adults did not get enough physical activity in 2022. These numbers don’t prove what causes obesity, but they help paint the picture.
Niue has a national tax on sugar-sweetened drinks, first introduced in 1969, according to the World Bank’s Global SSB Tax Database.
How it changed
Adults with obesity in Niue: men, women and the world
What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 36.2% to 63.2%, and women from 44.8% to 70.2%.
- Men
- Women
- World
Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Men | Women | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 36.2% | 44.8% | 5.4% |
| 1985 | 41.3% | 48.5% | 6.0% |
| 1990 | 46.0% | 52.0% | 6.7% |
| 1995 | 49.4% | 55.1% | 7.6% |
| 2000 | 52.0% | 58.0% | 8.7% |
| 2005 | 54.4% | 60.7% | 10.1% |
| 2010 | 56.9% | 63.2% | 11.5% |
| 2015 | 59.2% | 65.8% | 13.0% |
| 2020 | 61.4% | 68.3% | 14.6% |
| 2024 | 63.2% | 70.2% | 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 Niue
What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 7.4% to 42.7%, and girls from 7.3% to 34.6%.
- Boys
- Girls
BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Niue compared (2024)
What this meansHow Niue’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.
- Niue66.9%
- World16.2%
- Western Pacific (WHO region)9.7%
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Countries ranked nearby
- 3. Cook Islands72.4%
- 4. Naoero71.4%
- 5. Tokelau70.7%
- 6. Niue66.9%
- 7. Tuvalu65.1%
- 8. Samoa64.3%
- 9. French Polynesia49.2%
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