Americas · Country profile
Obesity in Puerto Rico
42.4% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 16th highest of 199 countries.
42.4%
of adults live with obesity (2024)
Likely range 35.3%–49.9%
Source: WHO
1.2 million
adults with obesity (estimated number)
WHO rate × UN population
Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024
20.2%
of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)
Source: WHO
#16
highest adult obesity out of 199 countries
#1 = highest share
Source: WHO
The story of Puerto Rico in numbers
In 2024, about 42.4% of adults in Puerto Rico were living with obesity — about 1 in 2 adults, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 35.3% to 49.9%). That is roughly 1.2 million people aged 18 and over.
That is higher than the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 16th highest out of 199 countries. It is above the average for WHO’s Americas region (34.4%).
Back in 1980, the figure was 11.8%. Since then it has gone up by 30.6 percentage points — about 3.6 times the 1980 level. In people, that is a change from about 225 thousand to 1.2 million adults, partly because the population itself changed.
Women are more likely to live with obesity than men: 47.8% compared with 36.2%.
Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 20.2% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 3.5% in 1980 — around 94 thousand young people.
For context, 22.3% of adults had diabetes in 2022 and 41.6% of adults did not get enough physical activity in 2022. These numbers don’t prove what causes obesity, but they help paint the picture.
How it changed
Adults with obesity in Puerto Rico: men, women and the world
What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 9.0% to 36.2%, and women from 14.3% to 47.8%.
- Men
- Women
- World
Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Men | Women | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 9.0% | 14.3% | 5.4% |
| 1985 | 11.5% | 17.1% | 6.0% |
| 1990 | 14.5% | 20.4% | 6.7% |
| 1995 | 18.2% | 24.2% | 7.6% |
| 2000 | 22.4% | 28.5% | 8.7% |
| 2005 | 26.3% | 32.7% | 10.1% |
| 2010 | 29.4% | 36.7% | 11.5% |
| 2015 | 31.9% | 40.8% | 13.0% |
| 2020 | 34.2% | 44.8% | 14.6% |
| 2024 | 36.2% | 47.8% | 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 Puerto Rico
What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 2.8% to 17.4%, and girls from 4.2% to 23.1%.
- Boys
- Girls
BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Puerto Rico compared (2024)
What this meansHow Puerto Rico’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.
- Puerto Rico42.4%
- Americas (WHO region)34.4%
- High income countries24.7%
- World16.2%
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Countries ranked nearby
- 13. Kiribati45.6%
- 14. Egypt43.9%
- 15. Belize43.4%
- 16. Puerto Rico42.4%
- 17. Marshall Islands42.0%
- 17. Qatar42.0%
- 19. United States41.0%
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