Eastern Mediterranean · Country profile
Obesity in Iraq
39.7% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 24th highest of 199 countries.
39.7%
of adults live with obesity (2024)
Likely range 34.6%–44.9%
Source: WHO
9.7 million
adults with obesity (estimated number)
WHO rate × UN population
Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024
18.0%
of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)
Source: WHO
#24
highest adult obesity out of 199 countries
#1 = highest share
Source: WHO
The story of Iraq in numbers
In 2024, about 39.7% of adults in Iraq were living with obesity — about 1 in 3 adults, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 34.6% to 44.9%). That is roughly 9.7 million people aged 18 and over.
That is higher than the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 24th highest out of 199 countries. It is above the average for WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean region (28.8%).
Back in 1980, the figure was 14.6%. Since then it has gone up by 25.1 percentage points — about 2.7 times the 1980 level. In people, that is a change from about 861 thousand to 9.7 million adults, partly because the population itself changed.
Women are more likely to live with obesity than men: 47.6% compared with 31.2%.
Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 18.0% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 3.7% in 1980 — around 2.9 million young people.
For context, 25.5% of adults had diabetes in 2022, 52.0% of adults did not get enough physical activity in 2022 and the food supply provided about 2,371 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 Iraq: men, women and the world
What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 9.0% to 31.2%, and women from 19.6% to 47.6%.
- Men
- Women
- World
Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Men | Women | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 9.0% | 19.6% | 5.4% |
| 1985 | 11.0% | 22.3% | 6.0% |
| 1990 | 13.4% | 25.2% | 6.7% |
| 1995 | 16.2% | 28.5% | 7.6% |
| 2000 | 19.4% | 32.3% | 8.7% |
| 2005 | 22.8% | 36.1% | 10.1% |
| 2010 | 26.0% | 39.6% | 11.5% |
| 2015 | 28.6% | 43.1% | 13.0% |
| 2020 | 30.2% | 45.8% | 14.6% |
| 2024 | 31.2% | 47.6% | 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 Iraq
What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 3.0% to 15.3%, and girls from 4.5% to 20.7%.
- Boys
- Girls
BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Iraq compared (2024)
What this meansHow Iraq’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.
- Iraq39.7%
- Eastern Mediterranean (WHO region)28.8%
- Upper-middle income countries16.7%
- World16.2%
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Food supply: calories per person per day in Iraq
What this meansThe food available per person went from 1,803 calories a day in 1961 to 2,371 in 2023. This counts food available, not food actually eaten.
- Iraq
- World
Countries ranked nearby
- 20. Palau40.5%
- 22. Kuwait40.4%
- 23. Saudi Arabia40.1%
- 24. Iraq39.7%
- 25. Barbados39.4%
- 26. Fiji39.0%
- 27. Panama37.7%
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