Share of children who are overweight or obese in Malawi
Malawi: Share of children who are overweight or obese was 4.4% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Share of children who are overweight or obese in Malawi, 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 Malawi stood at 4.4%.
That represents a change of up 12.8% on the previous year and up 10.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children who are overweight or obese in Malawi peaked at 12.0% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 3.1%, in 2019.
That places Malawi 106th out of 163 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 9.7% | 6.6% | 12.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.1% | 3.1% | 5.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.6% | 3.1% | 4.4% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
- 105 Lebanon 4.5% compare
- 106 Afghanistan 4.4% compare
- 106 Guinea 4.4% compare
- 106 Mozambique 4.4% compare
More reference data data for Malawi
- Spring temperature anomalies -0.0372 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 0.606 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month 0.3659 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.9529 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies -0.5269 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 1,313 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 Malawi?
- Share of children who are overweight or obese in Malawi was 4.4% 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 Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 12.0% in 2000.
- What is the lowest share of children who are overweight or obese recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.1% in 2019.
- How does Malawi rank for share of children who are overweight or obese?
- Malawi ranks 106th out of 163 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of children who are overweight or obese rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is up 10.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Malawi 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.