Share of children who are overweight or obese in Eritrea

Eritrea: Share of children who are overweight or obese was 2.8% in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
2.8%
Change on year
up 12.0%
World rank
138th
of 163 countries
All-time high
2.8%
in 2024
All-time low
1.5%
in 2000
Years of data
25
2000–2024

Share of children who are overweight or obese in Eritrea, 2000–2024

01232000201220242000: 1.5 %2001: 1.6 %2002: 1.7 %2003: 1.7 %2004: 1.8 %2005: 1.8 %2006: 1.9 %2007: 1.9 %2008: 1.9 %2009: 1.9 %2010: 1.9 %2011: 1.9 %2012: 1.9 %2013: 1.9 %2014: 1.9 %2015: 1.9 %2016: 1.9 %2017: 1.9 %2018: 2 %2019: 2 %2020: 2.1 %2021: 2.2 %2022: 2.3 %2023: 2.5 %2024: 2.8 %

Source: World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

The most recent figure for share of children who are overweight or obese in Eritrea is 2.8%, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.

That represents a change of up 12.0% on the previous year and up 47.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of children who are overweight or obese in Eritrea peaked at 2.8% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 1.5%, in 2000.

Eritrea ranks 138th of 163 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 1.8% 1.5% 1.9% 10
2010s 1.9% 1.9% 2.0% 10
2020s 2.4% 2.1% 2.8% 5

Countries ranked near Eritrea

  1. 137 Maldives 3.0% compare
  2. 138 Burkina Faso 2.8% compare
  3. 140 Gambia 2.7% compare
  4. 140 Iran 2.7% compare

See the full ranking of 163 places →

More reference data data for Eritrea

All data for Eritrea →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of children who are overweight or obese in Eritrea?
Share of children who are overweight or obese in Eritrea was 2.8% 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 Eritrea?
The highest recorded value was 2.8% in 2024.
What is the lowest share of children who are overweight or obese recorded in Eritrea?
The lowest recorded value was 1.5% in 2000.
How does Eritrea rank for share of children who are overweight or obese?
Eritrea ranks 138th out of 163 countries with data for 2024.
Is share of children who are overweight or obese rising or falling in Eritrea?
Over the last ten years it is up 47.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Eritrea 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

Indicator
Share of children who are overweight or obese
Unit
%
Source
World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
163 places, 4,075 data points, 2000–2024
Last refreshed

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.