Obesity Rates Around the World

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), adult obesity has more than doubled since 1990, while adolescent obesity has quadrupled. Self-reported weight data published by the OECD reveals that obesity prevalence was particularly high in the United States, with just over a third of respondents saying that they are obese in 2023. In Chile and the United Kingdom, rates hovered around the 30 percent mark, while Korea had the lowest share of people with obesity of the countries studied at just 5.2 percent. While this is low by comparison, South Korea’s prevalence of obesity has risen steadily since reporting began in 2008, when the figure was just 1.8 percent.

According to the WHO, a body mass index (BMI) of over 25 is considered overweight, and over 30 obese. Obesity is linked to a range of health issues such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and several common cancers. Although awareness is increasing around the topic, obesity is still often misunderstood due to misconceptions of it being solely due to poor lifestyle choices, whereas factors such as genetic predisposition and environmental influences are also important.