Share of children who are overweight or obese in Somalia
Somalia: Share of children who are overweight or obese was 2.5% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Share of children who are overweight or obese in Somalia, 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 Somalia stood at 2.5%.
That represents a change of up 13.6% on the previous year and up 8.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children who are overweight or obese in Somalia peaked at 4.9% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 1.9%, in 2018.
That places Somalia 145th 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 Somalia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 4.9% | — |
| 2001 | 4.9% | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 4.9% | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 4.8% | -2.0% |
| 2004 | 4.6% | -4.2% |
| 2005 | 4.4% | -4.3% |
| 2006 | 4.2% | -4.5% |
| 2007 | 4.0% | -4.8% |
| 2008 | 3.7% | -7.5% |
| 2009 | 3.4% | -8.1% |
| 2010 | 3.2% | -5.9% |
| 2011 | 2.9% | -9.4% |
| 2012 | 2.7% | -6.9% |
| 2013 | 2.5% | -7.4% |
| 2014 | 2.3% | -8.0% |
| 2015 | 2.2% | -4.3% |
| 2016 | 2.1% | -4.5% |
| 2017 | 2.0% | -4.8% |
| 2018 | 1.9% | -5.0% |
| 2019 | 1.9% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 1.9% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 2.0% | +5.3% |
| 2022 | 2.1% | +5.0% |
| 2023 | 2.2% | +4.8% |
| 2024 | 2.5% | +13.6% |
Somalia compared with similar countries
- Somalia's 2.5% is below the median for low income countries, which is 3.3%, 76% of the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Somalia's 2.5% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 4.2%, 59% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 4.4% | 3.4% | 4.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.4% | 1.9% | 3.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.1% | 1.9% | 2.5% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Somalia
More reference data data for Somalia
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CH4) - Burning - Crop residues 0.4444 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.3652 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 41.78 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - Manure applied 234.3 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 43.31 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - Manure Management 96.78 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) (AR5) - Enteric Fermentation 28,272 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) (AR5) - Crop Residues 71.14 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CH4) - Enteric Fermentation 1,010 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.2685 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children who are overweight or obese in Somalia?
- Share of children who are overweight or obese in Somalia was 2.5% 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 Somalia?
- The highest recorded value was 4.9% in 2000.
- What is the lowest share of children who are overweight or obese recorded in Somalia?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.9% in 2018.
- How does Somalia rank for share of children who are overweight or obese?
- Somalia ranks 145th out of 163 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of children who are overweight or obese rising or falling in Somalia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 8.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Somalia 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.