Share of children who are overweight or obese in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia: Share of children who are overweight or obese was 8.4% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Share of children who are overweight or obese in Saudi Arabia, 2000–2024
Source: World Health Organization – Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Saudi Arabia recorded 8.4% for share of children who are overweight or obese in 2024.
That represents a change of down 7.7% on the previous year and down 18.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children who are overweight or obese in Saudi Arabia peaked at 10.9% in 2017 and was at its lowest, 3.7%, in 2000.
That places Saudi Arabia 54th 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.
Share of children who are overweight or obese in Saudi Arabia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 3.7% | — |
| 2001 | 4.1% | +10.8% |
| 2002 | 4.5% | +9.8% |
| 2003 | 4.9% | +8.9% |
| 2004 | 5.3% | +8.2% |
| 2005 | 5.8% | +9.4% |
| 2006 | 6.3% | +8.6% |
| 2007 | 6.8% | +7.9% |
| 2008 | 7.4% | +8.8% |
| 2009 | 7.9% | +6.8% |
| 2010 | 8.5% | +7.6% |
| 2011 | 9.0% | +5.9% |
| 2012 | 9.5% | +5.6% |
| 2013 | 9.9% | +4.2% |
| 2014 | 10.3% | +4.0% |
| 2015 | 10.6% | +2.9% |
| 2016 | 10.8% | +1.9% |
| 2017 | 10.9% | +0.9% |
| 2018 | 10.9% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 10.8% | -0.9% |
| 2020 | 10.6% | -1.9% |
| 2021 | 10.2% | -3.8% |
| 2022 | 9.7% | -4.9% |
| 2023 | 9.1% | -6.2% |
| 2024 | 8.4% | -7.7% |
Saudi Arabia compared with similar countries
- Saudi Arabia's 8.4% is below the median for high income countries, which is 8.6%, 98% of the median. (38 countries reporting)
- Saudi Arabia's 8.4% is below the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 8.5%, 99% of the median. (20 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 5.7% | 3.7% | 7.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 10.1% | 8.5% | 10.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 9.6% | 8.4% | 10.6% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Saudi Arabia
- 53 El Salvador 8.5% compare
- 54 Cape Verde 8.4% compare
- 56 Nauru 8.2% compare
- 57 Bhutan 8.0% compare
More reference data data for Saudi Arabia
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.1847 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.4 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 2.44 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.1771 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 2.44 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.6194 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.2207 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 6.07 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 10.64 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.9641 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children who are overweight or obese in Saudi Arabia?
- Share of children who are overweight or obese in Saudi Arabia was 8.4% 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 Saudi Arabia?
- The highest recorded value was 10.9% in 2017.
- What is the lowest share of children who are overweight or obese recorded in Saudi Arabia?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.7% in 2000.
- How does Saudi Arabia rank for share of children who are overweight or obese?
- Saudi Arabia ranks 54th out of 163 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of children who are overweight or obese rising or falling in Saudi Arabia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 18.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Saudi Arabia 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.