Obese women, by destination

42.4% of US women are obese. 50 destinations on this site sit below that, 2 sit above it: Chile, Panama. The lowest is Vietnam at 2.4%.

Bar chart of the share of adult women with BMI 30 or more in every Geomaxxing destination, with the USA highlighted in the ranking

Share of women aged 18 and over with a BMI of 30 or more. Red is at or above the US rate, green below it.

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

What the chart says

US women are at 42.4%, US men at 39.6%. 69.9% of US women are overweight or obese.
2 destinations are worse than home: Chile, Panama. The chart shows them in the same red as the USA.
Vietnam is 2.4%. That is a 50-market spread the ratio charts cannot see.

All 161

Every country on this site's country register, not just the destinations. WHO covers 38 more that the register does not name.

#	Country	On this site	Obese women, %	Obese men, %	Overweight or obese women, %	Obese women 1990, %	Change since 1990
1	Egypt	—	57.1	30.6	82.1	26.1	+31.0
2	Bahamas	—	57.0	38.8	82.5	21.9	+35.1
3	Belize	—	53.5	33.4	81.0	24.8	+28.7
4	Jamaica	—	50.1	19.5	75.8	16.9	+33.2
5	Qatar	—	50.1	38.8	75.5	27.1	+23.0
6	Fiji	—	48.8	28.8	76.2	25.5	+23.3
7	Iraq	—	47.6	31.2	77.7	25.2	+22.4
8	South Africa	—	47.5	14.5	72.5	25.0	+22.5
9	Kuwait	—	46.8	36.4	76.6	38.7	+8.1
10	Saudi Arabia	—	46.7	36.5	73.3	28.1	+18.6
11	Chile	yes	46.4	34.4	80.6	16.5	+29.9
12	Panama	yes	45.0	30.3	77.5	13.5	+31.5
13	United States of America	yes	42.4	39.6	69.9	20.7	+21.7
14	Jordan	yes	41.9	29.2	70.3	32.8	+9.1
15	Libya	—	41.9	25.3	68.8	27.2	+14.7
16	Mexico	yes	41.4	32.7	76.2	17.3	+24.1
17	Brunei	—	41.2	33.5	73.2	9.8	+31.4
18	Suriname	—	41.0	20.4	69.5	15.4	+25.6
19	Nicaragua	yes	40.3	28.7	72.5	15.5	+24.8
20	Guyana	—	40.2	18.7	68.3	13.8	+26.4
21	Syria	—	40.1	25.2	72.1	24.3	+15.8
22	Paraguay	yes	39.8	29.3	73.0	14.2	+25.6
23	Oman	—	39.5	25.5	68.6	21.2	+18.3
24	Costa Rica	yes	39.4	25.6	73.7	13.3	+26.1
25	Honduras	yes	39.3	23.9	72.4	10.1	+29.2
26	El Salvador	yes	38.8	23.8	71.9	15.0	+23.8
27	United Arab Emirates	—	38.4	27.8	69.0	30.9	+7.5
28	Argentina	yes	38.4	35.9	66.9	12.6	+25.8
29	Uruguay	yes	37.7	31.8	66.6	14.1	+23.6
30	Mauritania	—	37.4	9.0	65.9	12.0	+25.4
31	Dominican Rep.	yes	37.2	24.2	71.2	11.4	+25.8
32	Trinidad and Tobago	—	36.8	24.8	65.9	19.1	+17.7
33	Georgia	—	36.1	34.2	63.6	17.2	+18.9
34	Lesotho	—	36.0	6.3	59.5	13.7	+22.3
35	Bolivia	—	35.9	23.4	69.8	11.0	+24.9
36	New Zealand	—	35.7	32.3	64.7	14.3	+21.4
37	Turkey	yes	35.2	21.9	64.6	26.0	+9.2
38	Gabon	—	34.1	11.8	61.2	8.3	+25.8
39	Brazil	yes	33.9	26.1	66.5	11.4	+22.5
40	Ecuador	yes	33.9	23.7	70.3	13.2	+20.7
41	Uzbekistan	—	33.7	28.3	64.5	10.4	+23.3
42	Azerbaijan	—	33.4	20.8	64.2	18.2	+15.2
43	Peru	yes	33.3	24.9	72.3	12.0	+21.3
44	Tunisia	—	32.8	18.7	62.5	18.5	+14.3
45	Guatemala	yes	32.2	23.3	68.0	9.2	+23.0
46	Eq. Guinea	—	32.1	8.5	60.4	9.3	+22.8
47	Greenland	—	32.0	24.5	63.2	16.7	+15.3
48	Algeria	—	31.8	15.6	65.0	15.7	+16.1
49	Lebanon	yes	31.7	29.4	62.8	16.5	+15.2
50	Papua New Guinea	—	31.6	24.5	58.8	14.7	+16.9
51	Colombia	yes	30.7	18.7	64.4	10.4	+20.3
52	Botswana	—	30.5	8.7	57.6	9.1	+21.4
53	Iran	yes	30.4	18.8	65.0	16.3	+14.1
54	Romania	yes	30.0	34.5	53.5	10.3	+19.7
55	Morocco	yes	29.9	13.2	64.1	11.7	+18.2
56	Australia	—	29.7	31.4	58.1	13.0	+16.7
57	United Kingdom	yes	28.9	25.9	58.5	13.5	+15.4
58	Malaysia	yes	28.9	18.3	59.6	7.1	+21.8
59	Armenia	—	28.5	19.9	57.8	18.1	+10.4
60	Pakistan	—	28.0	21.0	59.3	4.7	+23.3
61	Hungary	yes	27.9	34.6	51.9	14.1	+13.8
62	Vanuatu	—	27.7	17.4	57.6	16.1	+11.6
63	Tajikistan	—	27.6	17.9	58.2	9.2	+18.4
64	Ireland	—	27.1	28.8	61.0	13.4	+13.7
65	Croatia	—	27.0	34.2	56.1	12.8	+14.2
66	Greece	—	26.9	27.7	55.3	16.3	+10.6
67	Mongolia	—	26.9	22.8	60.5	10.4	+16.5
68	Afghanistan	—	26.2	14.6	56.3	2.3	+23.9
69	Cuba	—	26.2	19.7	59.9	10.0	+16.2
70	Macedonia	—	25.9	27.5	58.6	18.8	+7.1
71	Kyrgyzstan	yes	25.5	18.0	56.9	9.6	+15.9
72	Ukraine	—	25.5	19.4	53.4	22.9	+2.6
73	Venezuela	—	25.4	20.2	53.7	14.2	+11.2
74	Namibia	—	25.0	10.8	47.5	9.0	+16.0
75	Albania	—	24.7	23.3	57.4	14.4	+10.3
76	Finland	—	24.7	23.6	55.6	14.0	+10.7
77	Canada	yes	24.4	27.5	53.1	14.0	+10.4
78	Turkmenistan	—	24.2	19.5	55.2	11.0	+13.2
79	Ghana	—	23.9	4.8	53.3	5.1	+18.8
80	Moldova	—	23.1	20.8	53.6	25.2	-2.1
81	Sudan	—	23.0	12.1	45.9	6.8	+16.2
82	Cameroon	—	22.4	9.5	49.1	4.7	+17.7
83	Czechia	yes	22.1	30.5	50.0	21.6	+0.5
84	Israel	—	22.1	22.3	48.5	17.2	+4.9
85	Belgium	—	22.0	19.7	47.9	13.2	+8.8
86	Slovakia	yes	22.0	30.0	47.3	13.9	+8.1
87	Liberia	—	21.9	13.4	47.0	2.4	+19.5
88	Belarus	yes	21.7	18.8	49.3	23.0	-1.3
89	Latvia	yes	21.3	22.7	49.6	18.6	+2.7
90	Zimbabwe	—	21.3	6.1	47.1	10.1	+11.2
91	Kazakhstan	yes	21.2	20.5	50.8	17.7	+3.5
92	Iceland	—	21.0	23.3	50.6	10.5	+10.5
93	Estonia	—	20.0	20.1	47.0	15.8	+4.2
94	Cyprus	—	19.8	23.2	46.5	16.1	+3.7
95	Togo	—	19.7	6.1	43.3	2.3	+17.4
96	Thailand	yes	19.6	12.9	50.7	5.4	+14.2
97	Lithuania	—	19.5	22.7	44.7	24.5	-5.0
98	Norway	—	19.2	21.1	50.4	8.9	+10.3
99	Germany	yes	19.1	22.1	44.3	14.2	+4.9
100	Gambia	—	19.0	5.4	46.2	2.4	+16.6
101	Portugal	yes	19.0	17.0	46.9	16.2	+2.8
102	Nigeria	yes	18.9	8.5	44.0	3.7	+15.2
103	Senegal	—	18.4	4.7	43.1	3.8	+14.6
104	Angola	—	18.2	6.8	42.8	4.3	+13.9
105	Serbia	yes	18.2	25.6	39.2	15.5	+2.7
106	Congo	—	18.0	6.3	40.6	4.1	+13.9
107	Russia	—	18.0	16.6	48.6	23.2	-5.2
108	Mali	—	17.6	9.0	42.2	1.7	+15.9
109	Poland	yes	17.6	25.7	42.9	16.6	+1.0
110	Luxembourg	—	17.5	20.5	43.8	12.7	+4.8
111	Bulgaria	yes	17.3	23.3	40.9	13.3	+4.0
112	Guinea-Bissau	—	17.1	7.8	39.7	2.7	+14.4
113	Zambia	—	17.1	5.6	39.7	3.4	+13.7
114	Bhutan	—	16.9	9.8	55.7	2.2	+14.7
115	Benin	—	16.8	7.4	38.9	3.2	+13.6
116	Djibouti	—	16.8	6.2	38.6	3.7	+13.1
117	Kenya	yes	16.8	5.6	42.8	3.4	+13.4
118	Indonesia	yes	16.6	7.0	48.5	2.3	+14.3
119	Haiti	—	16.5	5.5	41.7	4.6	+11.9
120	Sweden	—	16.5	18.5	44.6	9.4	+7.1
121	Tanzania	—	16.2	6.4	39.9	2.9	+13.3
122	Yemen	—	16.2	10.3	41.9	4.4	+11.8
123	Netherlands	—	15.1	14.2	40.4	10.0	+5.1
124	Sri Lanka	—	15.0	7.1	46.9	1.6	+13.4
125	North Korea	—	14.7	9.2	42.5	3.0	+11.7
126	Guinea	—	14.6	6.2	37.7	1.7	+12.9
127	Montenegro	—	14.6	19.5	40.7	11.9	+2.7
128	Mozambique	—	14.5	5.7	35.7	2.4	+12.1
129	Uganda	—	14.1	4.5	35.4	1.9	+12.2
130	Central African Rep.	—	14.0	6.7	32.4	2.0	+12.0
131	Austria	—	13.3	19.8	34.5	9.8	+3.5
132	Italy	—	13.3	14.5	37.4	14.0	-0.7
133	Slovenia	—	13.3	25.8	41.6	11.8	+1.5
134	Denmark	—	13.2	15.5	38.7	7.8	+5.4
135	Sierra Leone	—	13.1	3.0	36.8	2.9	+10.2
136	Spain	yes	13.0	17.5	41.3	16.8	-3.8
137	Malawi	—	12.1	3.3	35.3	1.7	+10.4
138	S. Sudan	—	12.1	5.3	30.8	2.5	+9.6
139	France	—	11.7	10.7	34.1	10.9	+0.8
140	Laos	yes	11.7	6.6	36.5	2.0	+9.7
141	Philippines	yes	11.6	7.5	40.6	2.4	+9.2
142	Burkina Faso	—	10.7	4.4	28.7	0.8	+9.9
143	India	yes	10.4	5.7	33.7	1.1	+9.3
144	Myanmar	yes	10.4	5.8	34.3	3.0	+7.4
145	Nepal	—	10.3	5.1	36.3	0.5	+9.8
146	Dem. Rep. Congo	—	9.1	4.1	29.8	1.5	+7.6
147	Switzerland	—	9.0	13.6	28.2	6.6	+2.4
148	Rwanda	—	8.8	2.0	29.7	1.0	+7.8
149	Niger	—	8.7	4.9	23.9	1.4	+7.3
150	Bangladesh	yes	8.6	2.7	36.9	0.4	+8.2
151	China	yes	8.4	10.0	32.8	1.9	+6.5
152	Chad	—	7.2	7.7	22.7	0.9	+6.3
153	Cambodia	yes	6.2	3.6	30.5	0.7	+5.5
154	South Korea	yes	6.0	10.4	25.3	2.1	+3.9
155	Eritrea	—	5.8	2.6	16.0	1.1	+4.7
156	Timor-Leste	—	5.5	1.7	20.9	0.4	+5.1
157	Ethiopia	—	4.4	1.4	14.1	0.6	+3.8
158	Madagascar	—	4.4	4.7	18.4	0.7	+3.7
159	Burundi	—	4.3	6.1	12.1	0.9	+3.4
160	Japan	yes	3.7	8.0	15.5	2.2	+1.5
161	Vietnam	yes	2.4	2.3	19.0	0.3	+2.1

Overweight includes the obese — the two columns nest, they do not add.

Where this is wrong

Ages 18 and over, not this site's 20–39 band. WHO publishes no finer split.
Modelled estimates pooled from national surveys, not measurements. A country with no recent survey still has a number.
Country level. Says nothing about a particular city.
Taiwan is absent: WHO publishes no series for it.

Sources

WHO Global Health Observatory (NCD_BMI_30A, NCD_BMI_25A)

Ratio, cost and safety by city are on the research desk.

More charts

Shortlist by the numbers that move →

Body-mass prevalence is national. Ratio, cost and safety are per city, and those are the ones you can act on.

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.