Western Pacific · Country profile
Obesity in Cook Islands
72.4% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 3rd highest of 199 countries.
72.4%
of adults live with obesity (2024)
Likely range 68.7%–76.0%
Source: WHO
7,000
adults with obesity (estimated number)
WHO rate × UN population
Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024
36.2%
of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)
Source: WHO
#3
highest adult obesity out of 199 countries
#1 = highest share
Source: WHO
The story of Cook Islands in numbers
In 2024, about 72.4% of adults in Cook Islands were living with obesity, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 68.7% to 76.0%). That is roughly 7,000 people aged 18 and over.
That is higher than the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 3rd highest out of 199 countries. It is above the average for WHO’s Western Pacific region (9.7%).
Back in 1980, the figure was 39.4%. Since then it has gone up by 33.0 percentage points. In people, that is a change from about 3,000 to 7,000 adults, partly because the population itself changed.
Women are more likely to live with obesity than men: 73.9% compared with 70.6%.
Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 36.2% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 6.9% in 1980 — around 1,000 young people.
For context, 27.9% of adults had diabetes in 2022 and 25.4% of adults did not get enough physical activity in 2022. These numbers don’t prove what causes obesity, but they help paint the picture.
Cook Islands has a national tax on sugar-sweetened drinks, first introduced in 2014, according to the World Bank’s Global SSB Tax Database.
How it changed
Adults with obesity in Cook Islands: men, women and the world
What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 35.0% to 70.6%, and women from 44.1% to 73.9%.
- Men
- Women
- World
Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Men | Women | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 35.0% | 44.1% | 5.4% |
| 1985 | 39.9% | 48.1% | 6.0% |
| 1990 | 44.5% | 52.0% | 6.7% |
| 1995 | 47.9% | 55.6% | 7.6% |
| 2000 | 50.7% | 58.9% | 8.7% |
| 2005 | 54.0% | 62.1% | 10.1% |
| 2010 | 58.1% | 65.2% | 11.5% |
| 2015 | 62.5% | 68.4% | 13.0% |
| 2020 | 67.0% | 71.5% | 14.6% |
| 2024 | 70.6% | 73.9% | 16.2% |
Age-standardized WHO estimates. Shaded bands show the 95% uncertainty range.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Children & teens (5–19) with obesity in Cook Islands
What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 6.8% to 40.3%, and girls from 6.9% to 31.7%.
- Boys
- Girls
BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Cook Islands compared (2024)
What this meansHow Cook Islands’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.
- Cook Islands72.4%
- World16.2%
- Western Pacific (WHO region)9.7%
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Countries ranked nearby
- 1. American Samoa75.9%
- 2. Tonga73.8%
- 3. Cook Islands72.4%
- 4. Naoero71.4%
- 5. Tokelau70.7%
- 6. Niue66.9%
Last updated