Section 3.1

Chapter 3 Additional World Health Assembly Nutrition Indicators

3.1 Adult obesity

In the Arab States, the prevalence of obesity among adults 18 years and older was 32.1 percent in 2022, more than double the global prevalence of 15.8 percent (Table 7). Low-income countries have consistently been the country income group with the lowest prevalence of adult obesity during the period 2000–2022. High-income countries had the highest prevalence until 2014, when upper-middle-income countries surpassed them and have since remained the group of countries with the highest prevalence. Furthermore, the prevalence of obesity shows an increasing trend in the Arab States from 2000 to 2022.

TABLE 7.

Prevalence of obesity among adults 18 years and older (percent)

	2000	2005	2010	2012	2015	2020	2022
World	8.7	10.1	11.5	12.1	13.1	14.9	15.8
Arab States	19.6	22.7	25.7	26.8	28.5	31.1	32.1
Low-income countries	10.3	12.5	14.8	15.6	16.1	18.5	19.7
Lower-middle-income countries	20.4	23.6	26.6	27.8	29.6	32.6	33.8
Upper-middle-income countries	25.8	29.5	32.7	34.0	35.8	38.6	39.7
High-income countries	26.3	30.0	33.2	34.1	35.6	37.8	38.6
Arab States LDCs	6.2	7.9	9.8	10.6	11.9	14.5	15.7
Countries affected by conflict	15.2	17.9	20.3	21.3	22.5	25.1	26.2
Countries not affected by conflict	21.4	24.8	28.0	29.2	30.9	33.7	34.7

Notes: Definitions of country groupings are contained in Annex IV.
Source: Based on WHO. 2024. Global Health Observatory (GHO) data repository: Prevalence of obesity among adults, BMI ≥ 30, age-standardized. Estimates by country. [Accessed on 24 July 2024]. https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/prevalence-of-obesity-among-adults-bmi--30-(age-standardized-estimate)-(-). Licence: CC-BY-4.0.

In 2022, Egypt had the highest prevalence of adult obesity (44.3 percent), followed by Qatar (43.1 percent), and Kuwait (41.4 percent). Djibouti had the lowest prevalence (11.3 percent), followed by Yemen (13.7 percent) and Somalia (14.6 percent) (Figure 14).

The prevalence of adult obesity is higher in 2022 compared to 2012 in every country (except for the United Arab Emirates). Qatar increased the most between 2012 and 2022, rising from 36.1 percent in 2012 to 43.1 percent in 2022; this was followed by Egypt in close second, rising from 37.4 percent in 2012 to 44.3 percent in 2022.

FIGURE 14.

Prevalence of obesity among adults 18 years and older in the Arab States by country income group and country

Notes: Definitions of country groupings are contained in Annex IV.
Source: Based on WHO. 2024. Global Health Observatory (GHO) data repository: Prevalence of obesity among adults, BMI ≥ 30, age-standardized. Estimates by country. [Accessed on 24 July 2024]. https://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.A900A?lang=en. Licence: CC-BY-4.0.
Download: https://doi.org/10.4060/cd3550en-fig14