Eastern Mediterranean · Country profile
Obesity in Kuwait
40.4% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 22nd highest of 199 countries.
40.4%
of adults live with obesity (2024)
Likely range 35.2%–45.6%
Source: WHO
1.6 million
adults with obesity (estimated number)
WHO rate × UN population
Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024
21.9%
of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)
Source: WHO
#22
highest adult obesity out of 199 countries
#1 = highest share
Source: WHO
The story of Kuwait in numbers
In 2024, about 40.4% of adults in Kuwait were living with obesity — about 1 in 2 adults, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 35.2% to 45.6%). That is roughly 1.6 million people aged 18 and over.
That is higher than the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 22nd highest out of 199 countries. It is above the average for WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean region (28.8%).
Back in 1980, the figure was 20.4%. Since then it has gone up by 20.0 percentage points — about 2.0 times the 1980 level. In people, that is a change from about 156 thousand to 1.6 million adults, partly because the population itself changed.
Women are more likely to live with obesity than men: 46.8% compared with 36.4%.
Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 21.9% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 6.7% in 1980 — around 201 thousand young people.
For context, 26.8% of adults had diabetes in 2022, 63.3% of adults did not get enough physical activity in 2022 and the food supply provided about 3,136 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 Kuwait: men, women and the world
What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 12.9% to 36.4%, and women from 32.0% to 46.8%.
- Men
- Women
- World
Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Men | Women | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 12.9% | 32.0% | 5.4% |
| 1985 | 16.5% | 35.3% | 6.0% |
| 1990 | 20.6% | 38.7% | 6.7% |
| 1995 | 25.0% | 42.0% | 7.6% |
| 2000 | 29.4% | 45.1% | 8.7% |
| 2005 | 33.1% | 47.0% | 10.1% |
| 2010 | 35.3% | 47.6% | 11.5% |
| 2015 | 36.6% | 47.7% | 13.0% |
| 2020 | 36.7% | 47.3% | 14.6% |
| 2024 | 36.4% | 46.8% | 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 Kuwait
What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 6.7% to 25.2%, and girls from 6.7% to 18.3%.
- Boys
- Girls
BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Kuwait compared (2024)
What this meansHow Kuwait’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.
- Kuwait40.4%
- Eastern Mediterranean (WHO region)28.8%
- High income countries24.7%
- World16.2%
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Food supply: calories per person per day in Kuwait
What this meansThe food available per person went from 2,138 calories a day in 1961 to 3,136 in 2023. This counts food available, not food actually eaten.
- Kuwait
- World
Countries ranked nearby
- 19. United States41.0%
- 20. Chile40.5%
- 20. Palau40.5%
- 22. Kuwait40.4%
- 23. Saudi Arabia40.1%
- 24. Iraq39.7%
- 25. Barbados39.4%
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