Western Pacific · Country profile
Obesity in Kiribati
45.6% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 13th highest of 199 countries.
45.6%
of adults live with obesity (2024)
Likely range 42.5%–48.6%
Source: WHO
36 thousand
adults with obesity (estimated number)
WHO rate × UN population
Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024
13.2%
of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)
Source: WHO
#13
highest adult obesity out of 199 countries
#1 = highest share
Source: WHO
The story of Kiribati in numbers
In 2024, about 45.6% of adults in Kiribati were living with obesity — about 1 in 2 adults, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 42.5% to 48.6%). That is roughly 36 thousand people aged 18 and over.
That is higher than the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 13th highest out of 199 countries. It is above the average for WHO’s Western Pacific region (9.7%).
Back in 1980, the figure was 21.5%. Since then it has gone up by 24.1 percentage points — about 2.1 times the 1980 level. In people, that is a change from about 7,000 to 36 thousand adults, partly because the population itself changed.
Women are more likely to live with obesity than men: 52.9% compared with 37.2%.
Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 13.2% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 3.1% in 1980 — around 6,000 young people.
For context, 19.6% of adults had diabetes in 2022, 31.9% of adults did not get enough physical activity in 2022 and the food supply provided about 3,125 calories per person per day in 2023. These numbers don’t prove what causes obesity, but they help paint the picture.
Kiribati 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 Kiribati: men, women and the world
What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 17.8% to 37.2%, and women from 25.0% to 52.9%.
- Men
- Women
- World
Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Men | Women | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 17.8% | 25.0% | 5.4% |
| 1985 | 22.1% | 30.5% | 6.0% |
| 1990 | 26.3% | 36.0% | 6.7% |
| 1995 | 29.4% | 40.7% | 7.6% |
| 2000 | 31.5% | 44.6% | 8.7% |
| 2005 | 33.1% | 47.4% | 10.1% |
| 2010 | 34.3% | 49.4% | 11.5% |
| 2015 | 35.2% | 51.0% | 13.0% |
| 2020 | 36.2% | 52.2% | 14.6% |
| 2024 | 37.2% | 52.9% | 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 Kiribati
What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 3.1% to 13.6%, and girls from 3.0% to 12.8%.
- Boys
- Girls
BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Kiribati compared (2024)
What this meansHow Kiribati’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.
- Kiribati45.6%
- World16.2%
- Lower-middle income countries12.0%
- Western Pacific (WHO region)9.7%
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Food supply: calories per person per day in Kiribati
What this meansThe food available per person went from 1,705 calories a day in 1961 to 3,125 in 2023. This counts food available, not food actually eaten.
- Kiribati
- World
Countries ranked nearby
- 10. Micronesia48.6%
- 11. Bahamas48.3%
- 12. Saint Kitts and Nevis46.7%
- 13. Kiribati45.6%
- 14. Egypt43.9%
- 15. Belize43.4%
- 16. Puerto Rico42.4%
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