Europe · Country profile
Obesity in Serbia
21.8% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 107th highest of 199 countries.
21.8%
of adults live with obesity (2024)
Likely range 17.9%–26.1%
Source: WHO
1.4 million
adults with obesity (estimated number)
WHO rate × UN population
Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024
10.6%
of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)
Source: WHO
#107
highest adult obesity out of 199 countries
#1 = highest share
Source: WHO
The story of Serbia in numbers
In 2024, about 21.8% of adults in Serbia were living with obesity — about 1 in 5 adults, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 17.9% to 26.1%). That is roughly 1.4 million people aged 18 and over.
That is higher than the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 107th 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 12.1%. Since then it has gone up by 9.7 percentage points. In people, that is a change from about 762 thousand to 1.4 million adults, partly because the population itself changed.
Men are more likely to live with obesity than women: 25.6% compared with 18.2%.
Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 10.6% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 3.0% in 1980 — around 105 thousand young people.
For context, 10.8% of adults had diabetes in 2022, 44.9% of adults did not get enough physical activity in 2022 and the food supply provided about 3,879 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 Serbia: men, women and the world
What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 7.5% to 25.6%, and women from 15.9% to 18.2%.
- Men
- Women
- World
Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Men | Women | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 7.5% | 15.9% | 5.4% |
| 1985 | 8.6% | 15.7% | 6.0% |
| 1990 | 9.6% | 15.5% | 6.7% |
| 1995 | 10.8% | 15.5% | 7.6% |
| 2000 | 12.6% | 15.8% | 8.7% |
| 2005 | 15.0% | 16.5% | 10.1% |
| 2010 | 17.6% | 17.2% | 11.5% |
| 2015 | 20.2% | 17.8% | 13.0% |
| 2020 | 23.0% | 18.0% | 14.6% |
| 2024 | 25.6% | 18.2% | 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 Serbia
What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 3.3% to 14.3%, and girls from 2.6% to 6.8%.
- Boys
- Girls
BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Serbia compared (2024)
What this meansHow Serbia’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.
- Serbia21.8%
- Europe (WHO region)20.9%
- Upper-middle income countries16.7%
- World16.2%
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Food supply: calories per person per day in Serbia
What this meansThe food available per person went from 3,620 calories a day in 2006 to 3,879 in 2023. This counts food available, not food actually eaten.
- Serbia
- World
Countries ranked nearby
- 102. Turkmenistan22.2%
- 106. Kyrgyzstan22.0%
- 107. Poland21.8%
- 107. Serbia21.8%
- 107. Solomon Islands21.8%
- 110. Cyprus21.6%
- 110. Morocco21.6%
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