Share of children who are overweight or obese in Lesotho

Lesotho: Share of children who are overweight or obese was 7.5% in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
7.5%
Change on year
up 1.4%
World rank
61st
of 163 countries
All-time high
7.5%
in 2024
All-time low
6.9%
in 2000
Years of data
25
2000–2024

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

024682000201220242000: 6.9 %2001: 6.9 %2002: 6.9 %2003: 6.9 %2004: 6.9 %2005: 6.9 %2006: 6.9 %2007: 6.9 %2008: 6.9 %2009: 6.9 %2010: 7 %2011: 7 %2012: 7 %2013: 7.1 %2014: 7.1 %2015: 7.2 %2016: 7.2 %2017: 7.2 %2018: 7.2 %2019: 7.3 %2020: 7.3 %2021: 7.3 %2022: 7.4 %2023: 7.4 %2024: 7.5 %

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 Lesotho is 7.5%, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.

That represents a change of up 1.4% on the previous year and up 5.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of children who are overweight or obese in Lesotho peaked at 7.5% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 6.9%, in 2000.

That places Lesotho 61st out of 163 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 6.9% 6.9% 6.9% 10
2010s 7.1% 7.0% 7.3% 10
2020s 7.4% 7.3% 7.5% 5

Countries ranked near Lesotho

  1. 58 Costa Rica 7.9% compare
  2. 59 United Kingdom 7.8% compare
  3. 60 Turkey 7.7% compare
  4. 61 Dominican Republic 7.5% compare
  5. 61 Equatorial Guinea 7.5% compare
  6. 64 Mexico 7.4% compare

See the full ranking of 163 places →

More reference data data for Lesotho

All data for Lesotho →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of children who are overweight or obese in Lesotho?
Share of children who are overweight or obese in Lesotho was 7.5% 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 Lesotho?
The highest recorded value was 7.5% in 2024.
What is the lowest share of children who are overweight or obese recorded in Lesotho?
The lowest recorded value was 6.9% in 2000.
How does Lesotho rank for share of children who are overweight or obese?
Lesotho ranks 61st out of 163 countries with data for 2024.
Is share of children who are overweight or obese rising or falling in Lesotho?
Over the last ten years it is up 5.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Lesotho 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.