Share of children who are overweight or obese in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Share of children who are overweight or obese was 0.9% in 2024. ▬ Flat
Share of children who are overweight or obese in Sri Lanka, 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 Sri Lanka stood at 0.9%. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 25.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children who are overweight or obese in Sri Lanka peaked at 1.2% in 2008 and was at its lowest, 0.9%, in 2000.
Sri Lanka ranks 162nd of 163 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
Share of children who are overweight or obese in Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 0.9% | — |
| 2001 | 1.0% | +11.1% |
| 2002 | 1.0% | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 1.0% | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 1.1% | +10.0% |
| 2005 | 1.1% | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 1.1% | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 1.1% | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 1.2% | +9.1% |
| 2009 | 1.2% | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 1.2% | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 1.2% | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 1.2% | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 1.2% | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 1.2% | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 1.2% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 1.2% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 1.1% | -8.3% |
| 2018 | 1.1% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 1.1% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 1.1% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 1.0% | -9.1% |
| 2022 | 1.0% | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 0.9% | -10.0% |
| 2024 | 0.9% | +0.0% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 0.9% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 7.5%, 12% of the median. (54 countries reporting)
- Sri Lanka's 0.9% is below the median for South Asia, which is 2.4%, 38% of the median. (6 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.2% | 1.1% | 1.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.0% | 0.9% | 1.1% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
More reference data data for Sri Lanka
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.1608 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.316 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 2.33 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.1784 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 2.33 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.539 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.1604 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.63 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 10.15 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.9713 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children who are overweight or obese in Sri Lanka?
- Share of children who are overweight or obese in Sri Lanka was 0.9% 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 Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 1.2% in 2008.
- What is the lowest share of children who are overweight or obese recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.9% in 2000.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for share of children who are overweight or obese?
- Sri Lanka ranks 162nd out of 163 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of children who are overweight or obese rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is down 25.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
- Where does this Sri Lanka 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.