Americas · Country profile
Obesity in Venezuela
23.0% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 95th highest of 199 countries.
23.0%
of adults live with obesity (2024)
Likely range 19.6%–26.5%
Source: WHO
4.5 million
adults with obesity (estimated number)
WHO rate × UN population
Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024
15.0%
of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)
Source: WHO
#95
highest adult obesity out of 199 countries
#1 = highest share
Source: WHO
The story of Venezuela in numbers
In 2024, about 23.0% of adults in Venezuela were living with obesity — about 1 in 4 adults, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 19.6% to 26.5%). That is roughly 4.5 million people aged 18 and over.
That is higher than the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 95th highest out of 199 countries. It is below the average for WHO’s Americas region (34.4%).
Back in 1980, the figure was 7.9%. Since then it has gone up by 15.1 percentage points — about 2.9 times the 1980 level. In people, that is a change from about 562 thousand to 4.5 million adults, partly because the population itself changed.
Women are more likely to live with obesity than men: 25.4% compared with 20.2%.
Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 15.0% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 2.0% in 1980 — around 1.2 million young people.
For context, 10.7% of adults had diabetes in 2022, 45.7% of adults did not get enough physical activity in 2022 and the food supply provided about 2,800 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 Venezuela: men, women and the world
What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 6.5% to 20.2%, and women from 9.3% to 25.4%.
- Men
- Women
- World
Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Men | Women | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 6.5% | 9.3% | 5.4% |
| 1985 | 8.5% | 11.5% | 6.0% |
| 1990 | 11.1% | 14.2% | 6.7% |
| 1995 | 14.0% | 17.2% | 7.6% |
| 2000 | 17.1% | 20.1% | 8.7% |
| 2005 | 19.5% | 22.2% | 10.1% |
| 2010 | 20.8% | 23.7% | 11.5% |
| 2015 | 21.1% | 24.8% | 13.0% |
| 2020 | 20.6% | 25.1% | 14.6% |
| 2024 | 20.2% | 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 Venezuela
What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 2.1% to 15.9%, and girls from 1.9% to 14.2%.
- Boys
- Girls
BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Venezuela compared (2024)
What this meansHow Venezuela’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.
- Americas (WHO region)34.4%
- Venezuela23.0%
- Upper-middle income countries16.7%
- World16.2%
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Food supply: calories per person per day in Venezuela
What this meansThe food available per person went from 2,006 calories a day in 1961 to 2,800 in 2023. This counts food available, not food actually eaten.
- Venezuela
- World
Countries ranked nearby
- 93. Malaysia23.3%
- 94. Tajikistan23.1%
- 95. Cuba23.0%
- 95. Venezuela23.0%
- 97. Ukraine22.8%
- 98. Gabon22.7%
- 99. Vanuatu22.6%
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