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Western Pacific · Country profile

Obesity in Indonesia

11.8% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 162nd highest of 199 countries.

11.8%

of adults live with obesity (2024)

Likely range 9.8%–13.9%

Source: WHO

24 million

adults with obesity (estimated number)

WHO rate × UN population

Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024

10.3%

of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)

Source: WHO

#162

highest adult obesity out of 199 countries

#1 = highest share

Source: WHO

The story of Indonesia in numbers

In 2024, about 11.8% of adults in Indonesia were living with obesity — about 1 in 8 adults, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 9.8% to 13.9%). That is roughly 24 million people aged 18 and over.

That is lower than the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 162nd highest out of 199 countries. It is above the average for WHO’s Western Pacific region (9.7%).

Back in 1980, the figure was 0.9%. Since then it has gone up by 10.9 percentage points — about 13.1 times the 1980 level. In people, that is a change from about 711 thousand to 24 million adults, partly because the population itself changed.

Women are more likely to live with obesity than men: 16.6% compared with 7.0%.

Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 10.3% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 0.4% in 1980 — around 7.3 million young people.

Obesity is not the only weight problem here: 9.2% of adults are underweight (BMI under 18.5). Health experts call this mix the “double burden” of malnutrition.

For context, 12.8% of adults had diabetes in 2022, 19.0% of adults did not get enough physical activity in 2022 and the food supply provided about 2,900 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 Indonesia: men, women and the world

What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 0.4% to 7.0%, and women from 1.5% to 16.6%.

0%5%10%15%20%25%30%19801990200020102020Women 16.6%World 16.2%Men 7.0%
  • Men
  • Women
  • World
Show the numbers as a table
YearMenWomenWorld
19800.4%1.5%5.4%
19850.4%1.9%6.0%
19900.6%2.3%6.7%
19950.8%3.0%7.6%
20001.1%3.9%8.7%
20051.7%5.1%10.1%
20102.6%7.1%11.5%
20153.7%9.8%13.0%
20205.4%13.4%14.6%
20247.0%16.6%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 Indonesia

What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 0.4% to 11.6%, and girls from 0.4% to 9.0%.

0%5%10%15%20%19801990200020102020Boys 11.6%Girls 9.0%
  • Boys
  • Girls

BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.

Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.

Indonesia compared (2024)

What this meansHow Indonesia’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.

  1. World16.2%
  2. Lower-middle income countries12.0%
  3. Indonesia11.8%
  4. Western Pacific (WHO region)9.7%

Food supply: calories per person per day in Indonesia

What this meansThe food available per person went from 1,825 calories a day in 1961 to 2,900 in 2023. This counts food available, not food actually eaten.

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,500197019801990200020102020World 3,006 kcalIndonesia 2,900 kcal
  • Indonesia
  • World

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