Share of children who are overweight or obese in Australia
Australia: Share of children who are overweight or obese was 26.4% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Share of children who are overweight or obese in Australia, 2000–2024
Source: World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Australia recorded 26.4% for share of children who are overweight or obese in 2024. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 4.3% on the previous year and up 72.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children who are overweight or obese in Australia peaked at 26.4% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 7.3%, in 2000.
Australia ranks 1st of 163 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 9.0% | 7.3% | 11.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 16.0% | 12.0% | 20.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 24.1% | 21.8% | 26.4% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Australia
- 2 Papua New Guinea 18.5% compare
- 3 Turks and Caicos Islands 18.3% compare
- 4 Tunisia 17.5% compare
More reference data data for Australia
- Spring temperature anomalies -0.4864 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 0.8615 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month 1.13 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.0026 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 0.4713 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 148.46 2010 = 100 (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Competitive elections 1 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children who are overweight or obese in Australia?
- Share of children who are overweight or obese in Australia was 26.4% in 2024, according to World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of children who are overweight or obese recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 26.4% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of children who are overweight or obese recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.3% in 2000.
- How does Australia rank for share of children who are overweight or obese?
- Australia ranks 1st out of 163 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of children who are overweight or obese rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 72.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of children who are overweight or obese. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Share of children under five years old that are defined as overweight or obese. A child is classified as overweight if their weight-for-height is more than two standard deviations from the median of the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Standards.