Eastern Mediterranean · Country profile
Obesity in Libya
33.7% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 45th highest of 199 countries.
33.7%
of adults live with obesity (2024)
Likely range 30.8%–36.7%
Source: WHO
1.7 million
adults with obesity (estimated number)
WHO rate × UN population
Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024
14.0%
of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)
Source: WHO
#45
highest adult obesity out of 199 countries
#1 = highest share
Source: WHO
The story of Libya in numbers
In 2024, about 33.7% of adults in Libya were living with obesity — about 1 in 3 adults, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 30.8% to 36.7%). That is roughly 1.7 million people aged 18 and over.
That is higher than the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 45th highest out of 199 countries. It is above the average for WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean region (28.8%).
Back in 1980, the figure was 13.7%. Since then it has gone up by 20.0 percentage points — about 2.5 times the 1980 level. In people, that is a change from about 186 thousand to 1.7 million adults, partly because the population itself changed.
Women are more likely to live with obesity than men: 41.9% compared with 25.3%.
Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 14.0% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 2.7% in 1980 — around 290 thousand young people.
For context, 28.0% of adults had diabetes in 2022, 45.6% of adults did not get enough physical activity in 2022 and the food supply provided about 2,867 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 Libya: men, women and the world
What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 7.0% to 25.3%, and women from 21.4% to 41.9%.
- Men
- Women
- World
Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Men | Women | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 7.0% | 21.4% | 5.4% |
| 1985 | 8.7% | 24.2% | 6.0% |
| 1990 | 10.8% | 27.2% | 6.7% |
| 1995 | 13.2% | 30.5% | 7.6% |
| 2000 | 16.0% | 33.9% | 8.7% |
| 2005 | 19.0% | 37.0% | 10.1% |
| 2010 | 21.6% | 39.2% | 11.5% |
| 2015 | 23.7% | 40.9% | 13.0% |
| 2020 | 24.8% | 41.7% | 14.6% |
| 2024 | 25.3% | 41.9% | 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 Libya
What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 2.6% to 14.3%, and girls from 2.9% to 13.7%.
- Boys
- Girls
BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Libya compared (2024)
What this meansHow Libya’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.
- Libya33.7%
- 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 Libya
What this meansThe food available per person went from 3,084 calories a day in 2010 to 2,867 in 2023. This counts food available, not food actually eaten.
- Libya
- World
Countries ranked nearby
- 42. Bermuda34.1%
- 43. New Zealand34.0%
- 44. Seychelles33.9%
- 45. Libya33.7%
- 46. Syria33.0%
- 47. Costa Rica32.7%
- 48. Dominica32.5%
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