Share of children who are overweight or obese in Tonga
Tonga: Share of children who are overweight or obese was 9.5% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Share of children who are overweight or obese in Tonga, 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 Tonga is 9.5%, measured in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
The figure is down 5.9% on the previous year and down 34.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children who are overweight or obese in Tonga peaked at 15.7% in 2007 and was at its lowest, 9.5%, in 2024.
That places Tonga 40th out of 163 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 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 Tonga, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 13.0% | — |
| 2001 | 13.5% | +3.8% |
| 2002 | 14.0% | +3.7% |
| 2003 | 14.5% | +3.6% |
| 2004 | 14.9% | +2.8% |
| 2005 | 15.2% | +2.0% |
| 2006 | 15.5% | +2.0% |
| 2007 | 15.7% | +1.3% |
| 2008 | 15.7% | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 15.7% | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 15.5% | -1.3% |
| 2011 | 15.3% | -1.3% |
| 2012 | 15.0% | -2.0% |
| 2013 | 14.7% | -2.0% |
| 2014 | 14.4% | -2.0% |
| 2015 | 14.1% | -2.1% |
| 2016 | 13.7% | -2.8% |
| 2017 | 13.3% | -2.9% |
| 2018 | 12.8% | -3.8% |
| 2019 | 12.4% | -3.1% |
| 2020 | 11.8% | -4.8% |
| 2021 | 11.3% | -4.2% |
| 2022 | 10.7% | -5.3% |
| 2023 | 10.1% | -5.6% |
| 2024 | 9.5% | -5.9% |
Tonga compared with similar countries
- Tonga's 9.5% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 7.5%, 1.3× the median. (54 countries reporting)
- Tonga's 9.5% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 5.5%, 1.7× the median. (27 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 14.8% | 13.0% | 15.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 14.1% | 12.4% | 15.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 10.7% | 9.5% | 11.8% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Tonga
More reference data data for Tonga
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0105 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.0092 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.0197 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.0197 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0353 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.0269 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.0446 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.1068 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.0799 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - Manure applied 9.35 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children who are overweight or obese in Tonga?
- Share of children who are overweight or obese in Tonga was 9.5% 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 Tonga?
- The highest recorded value was 15.7% in 2007.
- What is the lowest share of children who are overweight or obese recorded in Tonga?
- The lowest recorded value was 9.5% in 2024.
- How does Tonga rank for share of children who are overweight or obese?
- Tonga ranks 40th out of 163 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of children who are overweight or obese rising or falling in Tonga?
- Over the last ten years it is down 34.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Tonga 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.