Share of children who are overweight or obese in Maldives
Maldives: Share of children who are overweight or obese was 3.0% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Share of children who are overweight or obese in Maldives, 2000–2024
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 Maldives is 3.0%, measured in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 9.1% on the previous year and down 44.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children who are overweight or obese in Maldives peaked at 5.9% in 2008 and was at its lowest, 3.0%, in 2024.
That places Maldives 137th out of 163 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Share of children who are overweight or obese in Maldives, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 4.2% | — |
| 2001 | 4.5% | +7.1% |
| 2002 | 4.7% | +4.4% |
| 2003 | 5.0% | +6.4% |
| 2004 | 5.2% | +4.0% |
| 2005 | 5.4% | +3.8% |
| 2006 | 5.6% | +3.7% |
| 2007 | 5.8% | +3.6% |
| 2008 | 5.9% | +1.7% |
| 2009 | 5.9% | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 5.9% | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 5.9% | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 5.8% | -1.7% |
| 2013 | 5.6% | -3.4% |
| 2014 | 5.4% | -3.6% |
| 2015 | 5.2% | -3.7% |
| 2016 | 5.0% | -3.8% |
| 2017 | 4.8% | -4.0% |
| 2018 | 4.5% | -6.2% |
| 2019 | 4.3% | -4.4% |
| 2020 | 4.0% | -7.0% |
| 2021 | 3.8% | -5.0% |
| 2022 | 3.5% | -7.9% |
| 2023 | 3.3% | -5.7% |
| 2024 | 3.0% | -9.1% |
Maldives compared with similar countries
- Maldives's 3.0% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 7.5%, 40% of the median. (54 countries reporting)
- Maldives's 3.0% is above the median for South Asia, which is 2.4%, 1.2× the median. (6 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 5.2% | 4.2% | 5.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 5.2% | 4.3% | 5.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.5% | 3.0% | 4.0% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Maldives
More reference data data for Maldives
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.0011 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.0011 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.0044 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Burning - Crop residues 0 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.0044 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - IPCC Agriculture 1.16 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - Crop Residues 0.012 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - Burning - Crop 0.0004 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children who are overweight or obese in Maldives?
- Share of children who are overweight or obese in Maldives was 3.0% 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 Maldives?
- The highest recorded value was 5.9% in 2008.
- What is the lowest share of children who are overweight or obese recorded in Maldives?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.0% in 2024.
- How does Maldives rank for share of children who are overweight or obese?
- Maldives ranks 137th out of 163 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of children who are overweight or obese rising or falling in Maldives?
- Over the last ten years it is down 44.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Maldives 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.