Europe · Country profile
Obesity in North Macedonia
26.8% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 79th highest of 199 countries.
26.8%
of adults live with obesity (2024)
Likely range 20.1%–34.7%
Source: WHO
454 thousand
adults with obesity (estimated number)
WHO rate × UN population
Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024
11.0%
of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)
Source: WHO
#79
highest adult obesity out of 199 countries
#1 = highest share
Source: WHO
The story of North Macedonia in numbers
In 2024, about 26.8% of adults in North Macedonia were living with obesity — about 1 in 4 adults, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 20.1% to 34.7%). That is roughly 454 thousand people aged 18 and over.
That is higher than the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 79th highest out of 199 countries. It is above the average for WHO’s Europe region (20.9%).
Back in 1980, the figure was 13.7%. Since then it has gone up by 13.1 percentage points — about 2.0 times the 1980 level. In people, that is a change from about 157 thousand to 454 thousand adults, partly because the population itself changed.
Men are more likely to live with obesity than women: 27.5% compared with 25.9%.
Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 11.0% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 2.7% in 1980 — around 35 thousand young people.
For context, 10.9% of adults had diabetes in 2022, 26.1% of adults did not get enough physical activity in 2022 and the food supply provided about 3,476 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 North Macedonia: men, women and the world
What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 8.3% to 27.5%, and women from 18.1% to 25.9%.
- Men
- Women
- World
Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Men | Women | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 8.3% | 18.1% | 5.4% |
| 1985 | 9.5% | 18.4% | 6.0% |
| 1990 | 10.7% | 18.8% | 6.7% |
| 1995 | 12.1% | 19.5% | 7.6% |
| 2000 | 14.2% | 20.6% | 8.7% |
| 2005 | 16.8% | 22.0% | 10.1% |
| 2010 | 19.5% | 23.4% | 11.5% |
| 2015 | 22.2% | 24.7% | 13.0% |
| 2020 | 25.0% | 25.4% | 14.6% |
| 2024 | 27.5% | 25.9% | 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 North Macedonia
What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 3.4% to 12.9%, and girls from 2.0% to 9.1%.
- Boys
- Girls
BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
North Macedonia compared (2024)
What this meansHow North Macedonia’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.
- North Macedonia26.8%
- Europe (WHO region)20.9%
- Upper-middle income countries16.7%
- World16.2%
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Food supply: calories per person per day in North Macedonia
What this meansThe food available per person went from 2,317 calories a day in 1992 to 3,476 in 2023. This counts food available, not food actually eaten.
- North Macedonia
- World
Countries ranked nearby
- 76. Azerbaijan27.6%
- 77. Greece27.4%
- 77. United Kingdom27.4%
- 79. North Macedonia26.8%
- 80. Czechia26.3%
- 81. Slovakia26.1%
- 81. Tunisia26.1%
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