Western Pacific · Country profile
Obesity in French Polynesia
49.2% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 9th highest of 199 countries.
49.2%
of adults live with obesity (2024)
Likely range 41.8%–56.5%
Source: WHO
106 thousand
adults with obesity (estimated number)
WHO rate × UN population
Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024
25.6%
of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)
Source: WHO
#9
highest adult obesity out of 199 countries
#1 = highest share
Source: WHO
The story of French Polynesia in numbers
In 2024, about 49.2% of adults in French Polynesia were living with obesity — about 1 in 2 adults, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 41.8% to 56.5%). That is roughly 106 thousand people aged 18 and over.
That is higher than the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 9th highest out of 199 countries. It is above the average for WHO’s Western Pacific region (9.7%).
Back in 1980, the figure was 27.8%. Since then it has gone up by 21.4 percentage points. In people, that is a change from about 22 thousand to 106 thousand adults, partly because the population itself changed.
Women are more likely to live with obesity than men: 50.9% compared with 47.4%.
Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 25.6% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 5.6% in 1980 — around 16 thousand young people.
For context, 16.7% of adults had diabetes in 2022 and the food supply provided about 3,045 calories per person per day in 2023. These numbers don’t prove what causes obesity, but they help paint the picture.
French Polynesia has a national tax on sugar-sweetened drinks, first introduced in 2004, according to the World Bank’s Global SSB Tax Database.
How it changed
Adults with obesity in French Polynesia: men, women and the world
What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 24.7% to 47.4%, and women from 31.3% to 50.9%.
- Men
- Women
- World
Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Men | Women | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 24.7% | 31.3% | 5.4% |
| 1985 | 28.4% | 33.8% | 6.0% |
| 1990 | 31.9% | 36.2% | 6.7% |
| 1995 | 34.6% | 38.3% | 7.6% |
| 2000 | 36.5% | 40.3% | 8.7% |
| 2005 | 38.4% | 42.1% | 10.1% |
| 2010 | 40.6% | 44.0% | 11.5% |
| 2015 | 42.9% | 46.4% | 13.0% |
| 2020 | 45.3% | 48.9% | 14.6% |
| 2024 | 47.4% | 50.9% | 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 French Polynesia
What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 6.1% to 29.4%, and girls from 5.1% to 21.7%.
- Boys
- Girls
BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
French Polynesia compared (2024)
What this meansHow French Polynesia’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.
- French Polynesia49.2%
- High income countries24.7%
- World16.2%
- Western Pacific (WHO region)9.7%
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Food supply: calories per person per day in French Polynesia
What this meansThe food available per person went from 2,465 calories a day in 1961 to 3,045 in 2023. This counts food available, not food actually eaten.
- French Polynesia
- World
Countries ranked nearby
- 6. Niue66.9%
- 7. Tuvalu65.1%
- 8. Samoa64.3%
- 9. French Polynesia49.2%
- 10. Micronesia48.6%
- 11. Bahamas48.3%
- 12. Saint Kitts and Nevis46.7%
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