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. 157 of 163 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 163 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 163 countries, +35.1 points.
Vietnam and Japan barely moved. The lines are flat, not slow.

All 163

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	yes	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	yes	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	yes	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	yes	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	yes	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	yes	17.2	36.1	+18.9	2.1×
43	Ghana	yes	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	yes	13.0	29.7	+16.7	2.3×
53	Gambia	—	2.4	19.0	+16.6	7.9×
54	Mongolia	yes	10.4	26.9	+16.5	2.6×
55	Cuba	yes	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	yes	2.2	16.9	+14.7	7.7×
69	Senegal	yes	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	yes	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	yes	13.4	27.1	+13.7	2.0×
80	Côte d'Ivoire	—	4.0	17.7	+13.7	4.4×
81	Zambia	yes	3.4	17.1	+13.7	5.0×
82	Benin	—	3.2	16.8	+13.6	5.2×
83	Kenya	yes	3.4	16.8	+13.4	4.9×
84	Sri Lanka	yes	1.6	15.0	+13.4	9.4×
85	Tanzania	yes	2.9	16.2	+13.3	5.6×
86	Turkmenistan	—	11.0	24.2	+13.2	2.2×
87	Djibouti	—	3.7	16.8	+13.1	4.5×
88	Guinea	—	1.7	14.6	+12.9	8.6×
89	Uganda	yes	1.9	14.1	+12.2	7.4×
90	Mozambique	—	2.4	14.5	+12.1	6.0×
91	Central African Rep.	—	2.0	14.0	+12.0	7.0×
92	Haiti	—	4.6	16.5	+11.9	3.6×
93	Yemen	—	4.4	16.2	+11.8	3.7×
94	North Korea	—	3.0	14.7	+11.7	4.9×
95	Vanuatu	—	16.1	27.7	+11.6	1.7×
96	Venezuela	yes	14.2	25.4	+11.2	1.8×
97	Zimbabwe	yes	10.1	21.3	+11.2	2.1×
98	Finland	yes	14.0	24.7	+10.7	1.8×
99	Greece	yes	16.3	26.9	+10.6	1.7×
100	Iceland	yes	10.5	21.0	+10.5	2.0×
101	Armenia	yes	18.1	28.5	+10.4	1.6×
102	Canada	yes	14.0	24.4	+10.4	1.7×
103	Malawi	—	1.7	12.1	+10.4	7.1×
104	Albania	yes	14.4	24.7	+10.3	1.7×
105	Norway	yes	8.9	19.2	+10.3	2.2×
106	Sierra Leone	—	2.9	13.1	+10.2	4.5×
107	Burkina Faso	—	0.8	10.7	+9.9	13.4×
108	Nepal	yes	0.5	10.3	+9.8	20.6×
109	Singapore	yes	5.8	15.5	+9.7	2.7×
110	Laos	yes	2.0	11.7	+9.7	5.8×
111	S. Sudan	—	2.5	12.1	+9.6	4.8×
112	India	yes	1.1	10.4	+9.3	9.5×
113	Turkey	yes	26.0	35.2	+9.2	1.4×
114	Philippines	yes	2.4	11.6	+9.2	4.8×
115	Jordan	yes	32.8	41.9	+9.1	1.3×
116	Belgium	yes	13.2	22.0	+8.8	1.7×
117	Bangladesh	yes	0.4	8.6	+8.2	21.5×
118	Kuwait	—	38.7	46.8	+8.1	1.2×
119	Slovakia	yes	13.9	22.0	+8.1	1.6×
120	Rwanda	yes	1.0	8.8	+7.8	8.8×
121	Dem. Rep. Congo	—	1.5	9.1	+7.6	6.1×
122	United Arab Emirates	—	30.9	38.4	+7.5	1.2×
123	Myanmar	yes	3.0	10.4	+7.4	3.5×
124	Niger	—	1.4	8.7	+7.3	6.2×
125	Macedonia	yes	18.8	25.9	+7.1	1.4×
126	Sweden	yes	9.4	16.5	+7.1	1.8×
127	China	yes	1.9	8.4	+6.5	4.4×
128	Chad	—	0.9	7.2	+6.3	8.0×
129	Cambodia	yes	0.7	6.2	+5.5	8.9×
130	Denmark	yes	7.8	13.2	+5.4	1.7×
131	Netherlands	yes	10.0	15.1	+5.1	1.5×
132	Timor-Leste	—	0.4	5.5	+5.1	13.8×
133	Israel	yes	17.2	22.1	+4.9	1.3×
134	Germany	yes	14.2	19.1	+4.9	1.3×
135	Luxembourg	yes	12.7	17.5	+4.8	1.4×
136	Eritrea	—	1.1	5.8	+4.7	5.3×
137	Estonia	yes	15.8	20.0	+4.2	1.3×
138	Bulgaria	yes	13.3	17.3	+4.0	1.3×
139	South Korea	yes	2.1	6.0	+3.9	2.9×
140	Ethiopia	yes	0.6	4.4	+3.8	7.3×
141	Cyprus	yes	16.1	19.8	+3.7	1.2×
142	Madagascar	—	0.7	4.4	+3.7	6.3×
143	Kazakhstan	yes	17.7	21.2	+3.5	1.2×
144	Austria	yes	9.8	13.3	+3.5	1.4×
145	Burundi	—	0.9	4.3	+3.4	4.8×
146	Portugal	yes	16.2	19.0	+2.8	1.2×
147	Latvia	yes	18.6	21.3	+2.7	1.1×
148	Serbia	yes	15.5	18.2	+2.7	1.2×
149	Montenegro	yes	11.9	14.6	+2.7	1.2×
150	Ukraine	—	22.9	25.5	+2.6	1.1×
151	Switzerland	yes	6.6	9.0	+2.4	1.4×
152	Vietnam	yes	0.3	2.4	+2.1	8.0×
153	Slovenia	yes	11.8	13.3	+1.5	1.1×
154	Japan	yes	2.2	3.7	+1.5	1.7×
155	Poland	yes	16.6	17.6	+1.0	1.1×
156	France	yes	10.9	11.7	+0.8	1.1×
157	Czechia	yes	21.6	22.1	+0.5	1.0×
158	Italy	yes	14.0	13.3	-0.7	1.0×
159	Belarus	yes	23.0	21.7	-1.3	0.9×
160	Moldova	yes	25.2	23.1	-2.1	0.9×
161	Spain	yes	16.8	13.0	-3.8	0.8×
162	Lithuania	yes	24.5	19.5	-5.0	0.8×
163	Russia	yes	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. The same series as an animated world map, one frame per year, is at female obesity by country.

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.

Data updated 4 September 2026