Europe · Country profile
Obesity in Russia
17.6% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 133rd highest of 199 countries.
17.6%
of adults live with obesity (2024)
Likely range 16.3%–18.9%
Source: WHO
24.4 million
adults with obesity (estimated number)
WHO rate × UN population
Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024
7.5%
of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)
Source: WHO
#133
highest adult obesity out of 199 countries
#1 = highest share
Source: WHO
The story of Russia in numbers
In 2024, about 17.6% of adults in Russia were living with obesity — about 1 in 6 adults, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 16.3% to 18.9%). That is roughly 24.4 million people aged 18 and over.
That is close to the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 133rd highest out of 199 countries. It is below the average for WHO’s Europe region (20.9%).
Back in 1980, the figure was 16.7%. Since then it has gone up by 0.9 percentage points. In people, that is a change from about 17.4 million to 24.4 million adults, partly because the population itself changed.
Women are more likely to live with obesity than men: 18.0% compared with 16.6%.
Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 7.5% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 3.0% in 1980 — around 2 million young people.
For context, 8.1% of adults had diabetes in 2022, 18.1% of adults did not get enough physical activity in 2022 and the food supply provided about 3,528 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 Russia: men, women and the world
What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 7.5% to 16.6%, and women from 23.3% to 18.0%.
- Men
- Women
- World
Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Men | Women | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 7.5% | 23.3% | 5.4% |
| 1985 | 8.0% | 23.2% | 6.0% |
| 1990 | 8.5% | 23.2% | 6.7% |
| 1995 | 9.3% | 23.4% | 7.6% |
| 2000 | 10.9% | 23.9% | 8.7% |
| 2005 | 13.0% | 24.1% | 10.1% |
| 2010 | 15.1% | 23.5% | 11.5% |
| 2015 | 16.5% | 22.1% | 13.0% |
| 2020 | 16.7% | 19.9% | 14.6% |
| 2024 | 16.6% | 18.0% | 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 Russia
What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 3.3% to 9.3%, and girls from 2.7% to 5.7%.
- Boys
- Girls
BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Russia compared (2024)
What this meansHow Russia’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.
- Europe (WHO region)20.9%
- Russia17.6%
- Upper-middle income countries16.7%
- World16.2%
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Food supply: calories per person per day in Russia
What this meansThe food available per person went from 2,923 calories a day in 1992 to 3,528 in 2023. This counts food available, not food actually eaten.
- Russia
- World
Countries ranked nearby
- 129. Sao Tome and Principe17.9%
- 131. Liberia17.8%
- 131. Sudan17.8%
- 133. Russia17.6%
- 134. Sweden17.5%
- 135. Andorra17.1%
- 135. Montenegro17.1%
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