Share of children who are overweight or obese in El Salvador
El Salvador: Share of children who are overweight or obese was 8.5% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Share of children who are overweight or obese in El Salvador, 2000–2024
Source: World Health Organization – Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, share of children who are overweight or obese in El Salvador stood at 8.5%. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.4% on the previous year and up 25.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children who are overweight or obese in El Salvador peaked at 8.5% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 4.4%, in 2000.
El Salvador ranks 53rd of 163 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
Share of children who are overweight or obese in El Salvador, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 4.4% | — |
| 2001 | 4.6% | +4.5% |
| 2002 | 4.7% | +2.2% |
| 2003 | 4.9% | +4.3% |
| 2004 | 5.0% | +2.0% |
| 2005 | 5.2% | +4.0% |
| 2006 | 5.4% | +3.8% |
| 2007 | 5.5% | +1.9% |
| 2008 | 5.7% | +3.6% |
| 2009 | 5.9% | +3.5% |
| 2010 | 6.1% | +3.4% |
| 2011 | 6.3% | +3.3% |
| 2012 | 6.5% | +3.2% |
| 2013 | 6.6% | +1.5% |
| 2014 | 6.8% | +3.0% |
| 2015 | 7.0% | +2.9% |
| 2016 | 7.2% | +2.9% |
| 2017 | 7.4% | +2.8% |
| 2018 | 7.5% | +1.4% |
| 2019 | 7.7% | +2.7% |
| 2020 | 7.8% | +1.3% |
| 2021 | 8.0% | +2.6% |
| 2022 | 8.1% | +1.2% |
| 2023 | 8.3% | +2.5% |
| 2024 | 8.5% | +2.4% |
El Salvador compared with similar countries
- El Salvador's 8.5% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 7.5%, 1.1× the median. (54 countries reporting)
- El Salvador's 8.5% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 7.9%, 1.1× the median. (27 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 5.1% | 4.4% | 5.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 6.9% | 6.1% | 7.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 8.1% | 7.8% | 8.5% | 5 |
Countries ranked near El Salvador
- 50 Montenegro 8.6% compare
- 50 Poland 8.6% compare
- 50 Qatar 8.6% compare
- 54 Cape Verde 8.4% compare
- 54 Saudi Arabia 8.4% compare
- 56 Nauru 8.2% compare
More reference data data for El Salvador
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.2714 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.6267 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 1.78 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0909 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 1.78 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.91 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.3176 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 3.5 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 8.5 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.4948 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children who are overweight or obese in El Salvador?
- Share of children who are overweight or obese in El Salvador was 8.5% 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 El Salvador?
- The highest recorded value was 8.5% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of children who are overweight or obese recorded in El Salvador?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.4% in 2000.
- How does El Salvador rank for share of children who are overweight or obese?
- El Salvador ranks 53rd out of 163 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of children who are overweight or obese rising or falling in El Salvador?
- Over the last ten years it is up 25.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this El Salvador 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
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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.