The USA did not always look like this

Obese US women went from 20.7% in 1990 to 42.4% — 2.0× in 34 years. 155 of 161 countries rose, 6 fell.

Line chart of the share of obese adult women from 1990 to today, with the USA in red and every Geomaxxing destination drawn behind it

Each grey line is a destination on this site. The USA is red; seven markets are named.

Download the chart (PNG) Download all 161 countries (CSV)

What the chart says

The USA more than doubled: 20.7% to 42.4%, +21.7 points.
Chile, Panama and Mexico started below the USA and crossed it. Two of the three are now above it.
Bahamas rose fastest of all 161 countries, +35.1 points.
Vietnam and Japan barely moved. The lines are flat, not slow.

All 161

1990 against the latest year, for every country on this site's country register.

#	Country	On this site	Obese women 1990, %	Obese women 2024, %	Change, points	Multiple
1	Bahamas	—	21.9	57.0	+35.1	2.6×
2	Jamaica	—	16.9	50.1	+33.2	3.0×
3	Panama	yes	13.5	45.0	+31.5	3.3×
4	Brunei	—	9.8	41.2	+31.4	4.2×
5	Egypt	—	26.1	57.1	+31.0	2.2×
6	Chile	yes	16.5	46.4	+29.9	2.8×
7	Honduras	yes	10.1	39.3	+29.2	3.9×
8	Belize	—	24.8	53.5	+28.7	2.2×
9	Guyana	—	13.8	40.2	+26.4	2.9×
10	Costa Rica	yes	13.3	39.4	+26.1	3.0×
11	Argentina	yes	12.6	38.4	+25.8	3.0×
12	Dominican Rep.	yes	11.4	37.2	+25.8	3.3×
13	Gabon	—	8.3	34.1	+25.8	4.1×
14	Suriname	—	15.4	41.0	+25.6	2.7×
15	Paraguay	yes	14.2	39.8	+25.6	2.8×
16	Mauritania	—	12.0	37.4	+25.4	3.1×
17	Bolivia	—	11.0	35.9	+24.9	3.3×
18	Nicaragua	yes	15.5	40.3	+24.8	2.6×
19	Mexico	yes	17.3	41.4	+24.1	2.4×
20	Afghanistan	—	2.3	26.2	+23.9	11.4×
21	El Salvador	yes	15.0	38.8	+23.8	2.6×
22	Uruguay	yes	14.1	37.7	+23.6	2.7×
23	Fiji	—	25.5	48.8	+23.3	1.9×
24	Uzbekistan	—	10.4	33.7	+23.3	3.2×
25	Pakistan	—	4.7	28.0	+23.3	6.0×
26	Qatar	—	27.1	50.1	+23.0	1.8×
27	Guatemala	yes	9.2	32.2	+23.0	3.5×
28	Eq. Guinea	—	9.3	32.1	+22.8	3.5×
29	South Africa	—	25.0	47.5	+22.5	1.9×
30	Brazil	yes	11.4	33.9	+22.5	3.0×
31	Iraq	—	25.2	47.6	+22.4	1.9×
32	Lesotho	—	13.7	36.0	+22.3	2.6×
33	Malaysia	yes	7.1	28.9	+21.8	4.1×
34	United States of America	yes	20.7	42.4	+21.7	2.0×
35	New Zealand	—	14.3	35.7	+21.4	2.5×
36	Botswana	—	9.1	30.5	+21.4	3.4×
37	Peru	yes	12.0	33.3	+21.3	2.8×
38	Ecuador	yes	13.2	33.9	+20.7	2.6×
39	Colombia	yes	10.4	30.7	+20.3	3.0×
40	Romania	yes	10.3	30.0	+19.7	2.9×
41	Liberia	—	2.4	21.9	+19.5	9.1×
42	Georgia	—	17.2	36.1	+18.9	2.1×
43	Ghana	—	5.1	23.9	+18.8	4.7×
44	Saudi Arabia	—	28.1	46.7	+18.6	1.7×
45	Tajikistan	—	9.2	27.6	+18.4	3.0×
46	Oman	—	21.2	39.5	+18.3	1.9×
47	Morocco	yes	11.7	29.9	+18.2	2.6×
48	Trinidad and Tobago	—	19.1	36.8	+17.7	1.9×
49	Cameroon	—	4.7	22.4	+17.7	4.8×
50	Togo	—	2.3	19.7	+17.4	8.6×
51	Papua New Guinea	—	14.7	31.6	+16.9	2.1×
52	Australia	—	13.0	29.7	+16.7	2.3×
53	Gambia	—	2.4	19.0	+16.6	7.9×
54	Mongolia	—	10.4	26.9	+16.5	2.6×
55	Cuba	—	10.0	26.2	+16.2	2.6×
56	Sudan	—	6.8	23.0	+16.2	3.4×
57	Algeria	—	15.7	31.8	+16.1	2.0×
58	Namibia	—	9.0	25.0	+16.0	2.8×
59	Kyrgyzstan	yes	9.6	25.5	+15.9	2.7×
60	Mali	—	1.7	17.6	+15.9	10.4×
61	Syria	—	24.3	40.1	+15.8	1.7×
62	United Kingdom	yes	13.5	28.9	+15.4	2.1×
63	Greenland	—	16.7	32.0	+15.3	1.9×
64	Azerbaijan	—	18.2	33.4	+15.2	1.8×
65	Lebanon	yes	16.5	31.7	+15.2	1.9×
66	Nigeria	yes	3.7	18.9	+15.2	5.1×
67	Libya	—	27.2	41.9	+14.7	1.5×
68	Bhutan	—	2.2	16.9	+14.7	7.7×
69	Senegal	—	3.8	18.4	+14.6	4.8×
70	Guinea-Bissau	—	2.7	17.1	+14.4	6.3×
71	Tunisia	—	18.5	32.8	+14.3	1.8×
72	Indonesia	yes	2.3	16.6	+14.3	7.2×
73	Croatia	—	12.8	27.0	+14.2	2.1×
74	Thailand	yes	5.4	19.6	+14.2	3.6×
75	Iran	yes	16.3	30.4	+14.1	1.9×
76	Angola	—	4.3	18.2	+13.9	4.2×
77	Congo	—	4.1	18.0	+13.9	4.4×
78	Hungary	yes	14.1	27.9	+13.8	2.0×
79	Ireland	—	13.4	27.1	+13.7	2.0×
80	Zambia	—	3.4	17.1	+13.7	5.0×
81	Benin	—	3.2	16.8	+13.6	5.2×
82	Kenya	yes	3.4	16.8	+13.4	4.9×
83	Sri Lanka	—	1.6	15.0	+13.4	9.4×
84	Tanzania	—	2.9	16.2	+13.3	5.6×
85	Turkmenistan	—	11.0	24.2	+13.2	2.2×
86	Djibouti	—	3.7	16.8	+13.1	4.5×
87	Guinea	—	1.7	14.6	+12.9	8.6×
88	Uganda	—	1.9	14.1	+12.2	7.4×
89	Mozambique	—	2.4	14.5	+12.1	6.0×
90	Central African Rep.	—	2.0	14.0	+12.0	7.0×
91	Haiti	—	4.6	16.5	+11.9	3.6×
92	Yemen	—	4.4	16.2	+11.8	3.7×
93	North Korea	—	3.0	14.7	+11.7	4.9×
94	Vanuatu	—	16.1	27.7	+11.6	1.7×
95	Venezuela	—	14.2	25.4	+11.2	1.8×
96	Zimbabwe	—	10.1	21.3	+11.2	2.1×
97	Finland	—	14.0	24.7	+10.7	1.8×
98	Greece	—	16.3	26.9	+10.6	1.7×
99	Iceland	—	10.5	21.0	+10.5	2.0×
100	Armenia	—	18.1	28.5	+10.4	1.6×
101	Canada	yes	14.0	24.4	+10.4	1.7×
102	Malawi	—	1.7	12.1	+10.4	7.1×
103	Albania	—	14.4	24.7	+10.3	1.7×
104	Norway	—	8.9	19.2	+10.3	2.2×
105	Sierra Leone	—	2.9	13.1	+10.2	4.5×
106	Burkina Faso	—	0.8	10.7	+9.9	13.4×
107	Nepal	—	0.5	10.3	+9.8	20.6×
108	Laos	yes	2.0	11.7	+9.7	5.8×
109	S. Sudan	—	2.5	12.1	+9.6	4.8×
110	India	yes	1.1	10.4	+9.3	9.5×
111	Turkey	yes	26.0	35.2	+9.2	1.4×
112	Philippines	yes	2.4	11.6	+9.2	4.8×
113	Jordan	yes	32.8	41.9	+9.1	1.3×
114	Belgium	—	13.2	22.0	+8.8	1.7×
115	Bangladesh	yes	0.4	8.6	+8.2	21.5×
116	Kuwait	—	38.7	46.8	+8.1	1.2×
117	Slovakia	yes	13.9	22.0	+8.1	1.6×
118	Rwanda	—	1.0	8.8	+7.8	8.8×
119	Dem. Rep. Congo	—	1.5	9.1	+7.6	6.1×
120	United Arab Emirates	—	30.9	38.4	+7.5	1.2×
121	Myanmar	yes	3.0	10.4	+7.4	3.5×
122	Niger	—	1.4	8.7	+7.3	6.2×
123	Macedonia	—	18.8	25.9	+7.1	1.4×
124	Sweden	—	9.4	16.5	+7.1	1.8×
125	China	yes	1.9	8.4	+6.5	4.4×
126	Chad	—	0.9	7.2	+6.3	8.0×
127	Cambodia	yes	0.7	6.2	+5.5	8.9×
128	Denmark	—	7.8	13.2	+5.4	1.7×
129	Netherlands	—	10.0	15.1	+5.1	1.5×
130	Timor-Leste	—	0.4	5.5	+5.1	13.8×
131	Israel	—	17.2	22.1	+4.9	1.3×
132	Germany	yes	14.2	19.1	+4.9	1.3×
133	Luxembourg	—	12.7	17.5	+4.8	1.4×
134	Eritrea	—	1.1	5.8	+4.7	5.3×
135	Estonia	—	15.8	20.0	+4.2	1.3×
136	Bulgaria	yes	13.3	17.3	+4.0	1.3×
137	South Korea	yes	2.1	6.0	+3.9	2.9×
138	Ethiopia	—	0.6	4.4	+3.8	7.3×
139	Cyprus	—	16.1	19.8	+3.7	1.2×
140	Madagascar	—	0.7	4.4	+3.7	6.3×
141	Kazakhstan	yes	17.7	21.2	+3.5	1.2×
142	Austria	—	9.8	13.3	+3.5	1.4×
143	Burundi	—	0.9	4.3	+3.4	4.8×
144	Portugal	yes	16.2	19.0	+2.8	1.2×
145	Latvia	yes	18.6	21.3	+2.7	1.1×
146	Serbia	yes	15.5	18.2	+2.7	1.2×
147	Montenegro	—	11.9	14.6	+2.7	1.2×
148	Ukraine	—	22.9	25.5	+2.6	1.1×
149	Switzerland	—	6.6	9.0	+2.4	1.4×
150	Vietnam	yes	0.3	2.4	+2.1	8.0×
151	Slovenia	—	11.8	13.3	+1.5	1.1×
152	Japan	yes	2.2	3.7	+1.5	1.7×
153	Poland	yes	16.6	17.6	+1.0	1.1×
154	France	—	10.9	11.7	+0.8	1.1×
155	Czechia	yes	21.6	22.1	+0.5	1.0×
156	Italy	—	14.0	13.3	-0.7	1.0×
157	Belarus	yes	23.0	21.7	-1.3	0.9×
158	Moldova	—	25.2	23.1	-2.1	0.9×
159	Spain	yes	16.8	13.0	-3.8	0.8×
160	Lithuania	—	24.5	19.5	-5.0	0.8×
161	Russia	—	23.2	18.0	-5.2	0.8×

Ranked by points gained. The multiple column is the same change read as a ratio — a 0.6% country that quadrupled and a 20% country that doubled are not the same story.

Where this is wrong

Ages 18 and over, not this site's 20–39 band.
Modelled estimates, not measurements. The series is smooth because it is a model, not because prevalence moved smoothly.
Series start at 1990. WHO publishes back to 1980, but the 1980s values for countries with no survey are almost pure model.
Country level. Nothing here is a city figure.

Sources

WHO Global Health Observatory (NCD_BMI_30A)

The same prevalence as a snapshot ranking is on the obesity chart.

More charts

Shortlist by the numbers that move →

A trend is national and historical. What you can sort on is the ratio, cost and safety of a specific city.

The per-market deep-dives — 13 tabs of cost, visa, tax, safety and sub-national ratio for one country — are behind the Pro gate. Everything on this page is not.