Africa · Country profile
Obesity in Eswatini
29.6% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 68th highest of 199 countries.
29.6%
of adults live with obesity (2024)
Likely range 27.2%–32.2%
Source: WHO
203 thousand
adults with obesity (estimated number)
WHO rate × UN population
Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024
6.1%
of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)
Source: WHO
#68
highest adult obesity out of 199 countries
#1 = highest share
Source: WHO
The story of Eswatini in numbers
In 2024, about 29.6% of adults in Eswatini were living with obesity — about 1 in 3 adults, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 27.2% to 32.2%). That is roughly 203 thousand people aged 18 and over.
That is higher than the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 68th highest out of 199 countries. It is above the average for WHO’s Africa region (12.7%).
Back in 1980, the figure was 7.5%. Since then it has gone up by 22.1 percentage points — about 3.9 times the 1980 level. In people, that is a change from about 16 thousand to 203 thousand adults, partly because the population itself changed.
Women are more likely to live with obesity than men: 42.5% compared with 15.0%.
Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 6.1% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 0.6% in 1980 — around 25 thousand young people.
For context, 12.0% of adults had diabetes in 2022, 19.2% of adults did not get enough physical activity in 2022 and the food supply provided about 2,574 calories per person per day in 2023. These numbers don’t prove what causes obesity, but they help paint the picture.
How it changed
Adults with obesity in Eswatini: men, women and the world
What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 1.9% to 15.0%, and women from 12.0% to 42.5%.
- Men
- Women
- World
Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Men | Women | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 1.9% | 12.0% | 5.4% |
| 1985 | 2.4% | 14.4% | 6.0% |
| 1990 | 3.1% | 17.2% | 6.7% |
| 1995 | 4.0% | 20.6% | 7.6% |
| 2000 | 5.3% | 24.8% | 8.7% |
| 2005 | 6.8% | 29.2% | 10.1% |
| 2010 | 8.5% | 33.2% | 11.5% |
| 2015 | 10.2% | 36.8% | 13.0% |
| 2020 | 12.6% | 40.1% | 14.6% |
| 2024 | 15.0% | 42.5% | 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 Eswatini
What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 0.4% to 5.3%, and girls from 0.9% to 6.8%.
- Boys
- Girls
BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Eswatini compared (2024)
What this meansHow Eswatini’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.
- Eswatini29.6%
- World16.2%
- Africa (WHO region)12.7%
- Lower-middle income countries12.0%
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Food supply: calories per person per day in Eswatini
What this meansThe food available per person went from 2,253 calories a day in 1961 to 2,574 in 2023. This counts food available, not food actually eaten.
- Eswatini
- World
Countries ranked nearby
- 65. Brazil30.1%
- 65. Guyana30.1%
- 67. Bolivia29.7%
- 68. Eswatini29.6%
- 69. Peru29.2%
- 70. Ecuador28.9%
- 71. Türkiye28.8%
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