Obesity growth rate: How much has obesity increased over the years? [Updated March 2025]

Research Highlights:

Increasing obesity rates worldwide

Let’s analyze the growth of adult obesity by year:

The data shows that the global obesity rate among adults is growing exponentially.

Obesity is a huge public health crisis. However, it is also a barrier to physical performance and strength. Excess fat negatively impacts endurance, hormonal balance, and muscle growth. One Olympic weightlifting training session can burn up to 1,000 calories. This makes it a highly effective tool to prevent and manage obesity.

Are obesity rates rising?

• Yes, global obesity rates are rising: global obesity rate more than doubled since 1990 and more than tripled since 1975.

How much has obesity increased since 2000?

• Global obesity prevalence has risen from 14.9% in 2020 to an estimated 17.9% in 2025 – a sharp increase in just five years.

What percentage of the world is obese?

• In 2025, an estimated 17.9% of the adult global population is living with obesity.

The worldwide prevalence of obesity keeps growing, driven by ultra-processed diets, sedentary lifestyles, aggressive food marketing, and limited access to affordable healthy options.

What is the number of obese people in the world?

• In 2025, an estimated 1.32 billion people worldwide are living with obesity. This number includes both adults and children.

How many adults are obese in the world?

• In 2025, an estimated 1.1 billion adults worldwide are living with obesity.

How many people are overweight in the world?

• An estimated 3.3 billion people worldwide are overweight in 2025. This number includes both adults and children.

How many adults are overweight in the world?

• An estimated 2.78 billion adults worldwide are overweight in 2025.

Let’s analyze how the percentage of overweight people in the world changed over the years:

As we see, overweight prevalence is growing linearly while the obesity rate is growing exponentially. It means that people are highly likely to progress from overweight to obesity instead of keeping their weight stable. This increases the burden of obesity-related diseases and shows that current preventive measures are ineffective.

What percentage of the world population is overweight?

• In 2025, an estimated 45% of the world’s population is overweight.

Worldwide childhood obesity

It is crucial to analyze childhood obesity because this metric predicts future health crises. Obese children are far more likely to become obese adults. This involves future risks of heart disease, diabetes, and even early mortality.

Childhood obesity has a delayed effect; it will overwhelm healthcare systems and reduce life expectancy for future generations. On a positive note, it can be reduced and prevented with the help of changes in child nutrition and activity levels.

What percentage of children are obese?

• In 2025, an estimated 10.1% of children worldwide are obese.

So, every tenth child is obese. But let’s take a look at how world childhood obesity rate has been increasing during the last decades:

Childhood obesity prevalence by year

As we can see, childhood obesity has been growing linearly over the last 30 years but it is projected to reach 30% by 2030. This means that during the next decade, we are likely to see exponential growth; Children are at the highest risk of obesity and its serious health consequences.

How many children are obese in the world?

• In 2025, an estimated 224.4 million children and adolescents worldwide are obese.

What percentage of children are overweight or have obesity?

• In 2025, an estimated 23.61% of children and adolescents worldwide are overweight or obese.

Let’s analyze the growth of the percentage of overweight children over the years:

Childhood obesity and overweight prevalence by year

It becomes obvious that starting from 2023, the prevalence of childhood and adolescent obesity is projected to grow at a much higher rate compared to the previous 20 years. This is a strong warning sign both to global and local institutions.

How many children are overweight?

• In 2025, an estimated 519 million children worldwide are overweight or obese.

Childhood overweight growth projection

• The number of overweight children in the world is projected to reach 689 million in 2030.

At Torokhtiy Weightlifting, we believe that strength training and barbell work are for everyone, including adolescents.

As obesity rates continue to rise, it’s more important than ever to encourage young people to build healthier, stronger bodies through structured training and proper nutrition. Olympic weightlifting should not be perceived as a competition.

First of all, it’s a lifelong journey to maintaining strength and mobility which are the best guarantee of the lifelong well-being

Obesity by gender

Let’s analyze the obesity rates by gender over the years:

What percentage of women are obese?

• In 2025, an estimated 19.7% of women worldwide have obesity.
• Nearly 1 in 5 women are obese in 2025.

What percentage of men are obese?

• In 2025, an estimated 14.8% of women worldwide have obesity.

Obesity by age

Obesity prevalence varies with age differently for males and females.

Both males and females have the peak risk of obesity at the age of 50-54, the obesity prevalence is 55% and 60% respectively.

Obesity chart by age

Obesity rates by country

Obesity by country list 2025

Sources

1. World Health Organization. (n.d.). Obesity and overweight. Retrieved March 26, 2025, from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight
2. World Health Organization. (n.d.). Prevalence of obesity among adults (BMI ≥30), age-standardized estimate. Retrieved March 26, 2025, from https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/prevalence-of-obesity-among-adults-bmi-=-30-(age-standardized-estimate)-(-)
3. Statista. (2024). Number of overweight or obese people worldwide – forecasts. Retrieved March 26, 2025, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1386134/number-of-overweight-or-obese-people-worldwide-forecasts/
4. World Obesity Federation. (2023). World Obesity Atlas 2023 Report. Retrieved from https://www.worldobesityday.org/assets/downloads/World_Obesity_Atlas_2023_Report.pdf
5. National Library of Medicine. (2023). Study on obesity. PubMed. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37542334/
6. The Lancet. (2025). Obesity analysis in 2025. Retrieved from https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)00355-1/fulltext