Western Pacific · Country profile
Obesity in South Korea
8.4% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 180th highest of 199 countries.
8.4%
of adults live with obesity (2024)
Likely range 7.5%–9.3%
Source: WHO
3.4 million
adults with obesity (estimated number)
WHO rate × UN population
Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024
13.1%
of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)
Source: WHO
#180
highest adult obesity out of 199 countries
#1 = highest share
Source: WHO
The story of South Korea in numbers
In 2024, about 8.4% of adults in South Korea were living with obesity — about 1 in 12 adults, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 7.5% to 9.3%). That is roughly 3.4 million people aged 18 and over.
That is lower than the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 180th highest out of 199 countries. It is below the average for WHO’s Western Pacific region (9.7%).
Back in 1980, the figure was 1.1%. Since then it has gone up by 7.3 percentage points — about 7.6 times the 1980 level. In people, that is a change from about 225 thousand to 3.4 million adults, partly because the population itself changed.
Men are more likely to live with obesity than women: 10.4% compared with 6.0%.
Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 13.1% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 1.0% in 1980 — around 850 thousand young people.
Obesity is not the only weight problem here: 5.5% of adults are underweight (BMI under 18.5). Health experts call this mix the “double burden” of malnutrition.
For context, 10.4% of adults had diabetes in 2022, 58.1% of adults did not get enough physical activity in 2022 and the food supply provided about 3,430 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 South Korea: men, women and the world
What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 0.5% to 10.4%, and women from 1.7% to 6.0%.
- Men
- Women
- World
Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Men | Women | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 0.5% | 1.7% | 5.4% |
| 1985 | 0.7% | 1.9% | 6.0% |
| 1990 | 0.9% | 2.1% | 6.7% |
| 1995 | 1.2% | 2.5% | 7.6% |
| 2000 | 1.7% | 2.9% | 8.7% |
| 2005 | 2.5% | 3.3% | 10.1% |
| 2010 | 3.6% | 3.8% | 11.5% |
| 2015 | 5.1% | 4.4% | 13.0% |
| 2020 | 7.6% | 5.2% | 14.6% |
| 2024 | 10.4% | 6.0% | 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 South Korea
What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 1.3% to 19.4%, and girls from 0.8% to 6.5%.
- Boys
- Girls
BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
South Korea compared (2024)
What this meansHow South Korea’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.
- High income countries24.7%
- World16.2%
- Western Pacific (WHO region)9.7%
- South Korea8.4%
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Food supply: calories per person per day in South Korea
What this meansThe food available per person went from 2,058 calories a day in 1961 to 3,430 in 2023. This counts food available, not food actually eaten.
- South Korea
- World
Countries ranked nearby
- 177. China9.3%
- 178. Laos9.2%
- 179. South Sudan8.9%
- 180. South Korea8.4%
- 181. Sierra Leone8.2%
- 182. Myanmar8.1%
- 183. India8.0%
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