Africa · Country profile
Obesity in Sao Tome and Principe
17.9% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 129th highest of 199 countries.
17.9%
of adults live with obesity (2024)
Likely range 15.0%–21.1%
Source: WHO
21 thousand
adults with obesity (estimated number)
WHO rate × UN population
Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024
3.8%
of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)
Source: WHO
#129
highest adult obesity out of 199 countries
#1 = highest share
Source: WHO
The story of Sao Tome and Principe in numbers
In 2024, about 17.9% of adults in Sao Tome and Principe were living with obesity — about 1 in 6 adults, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 15.0% to 21.1%). That is roughly 21 thousand people aged 18 and over.
That is higher than the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 129th highest out of 199 countries. It is above the average for WHO’s Africa region (12.7%).
Back in 1980, the figure was 1.9%. Since then it has gone up by 16.0 percentage points — about 9.4 times the 1980 level. In people, that is a change from about 1,000 to 21 thousand adults, partly because the population itself changed.
Women are more likely to live with obesity than men: 25.4% compared with 10.3%.
Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 3.8% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 0.4% in 1980 — around 3,000 young people.
Obesity is not the only weight problem here: 6.3% of adults are underweight (BMI under 18.5). Health experts call this mix the “double burden” of malnutrition.
For context, 15.9% of adults had diabetes in 2022, 18.2% of adults did not get enough physical activity in 2022 and the food supply provided about 2,279 calories per person per day in 2023. These numbers don’t prove what causes obesity, but they help paint the picture.
Sao Tome and Principe has a national tax on sugar-sweetened drinks, first introduced in 1976, according to the World Bank’s Global SSB Tax Database.
How it changed
Adults with obesity in Sao Tome and Principe: men, women and the world
What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 0.7% to 10.3%, and women from 3.0% to 25.4%.
- Men
- Women
- World
Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Men | Women | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 0.7% | 3.0% | 5.4% |
| 1985 | 1.0% | 4.0% | 6.0% |
| 1990 | 1.5% | 5.3% | 6.7% |
| 1995 | 2.2% | 7.1% | 7.6% |
| 2000 | 3.4% | 9.7% | 8.7% |
| 2005 | 4.9% | 12.8% | 10.1% |
| 2010 | 6.2% | 15.5% | 11.5% |
| 2015 | 7.3% | 18.4% | 13.0% |
| 2020 | 8.7% | 22.1% | 14.6% |
| 2024 | 10.3% | 25.4% | 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 Sao Tome and Principe
What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 0.4% to 4.9%, and girls from 0.4% to 2.8%.
- Boys
- Girls
BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Sao Tome and Principe compared (2024)
What this meansHow Sao Tome and Principe’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.
- Sao Tome and Principe17.9%
- World16.2%
- Africa (WHO region)12.7%
- Lower-middle income countries12.0%
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Food supply: calories per person per day in Sao Tome and Principe
What this meansThe food available per person went from 2,142 calories a day in 1961 to 2,279 in 2023. This counts food available, not food actually eaten.
- Sao Tome and Principe
- World
Countries ranked nearby
- 127. Namibia18.3%
- 128. Portugal18.1%
- 129. Maldives17.9%
- 129. Sao Tome and Principe17.9%
- 131. Liberia17.8%
- 131. Sudan17.8%
- 133. Russia17.6%
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