Share of adults who are obese in Iceland
Iceland: Share of adults who are obese was 23.5% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Share of adults who are obese in Iceland, 1980–2024
Source: World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Iceland recorded 23.5% for share of adults who are obese in 2024. That is the highest value across all 45 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.5% on the previous year and up 14.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of adults who are obese in Iceland peaked at 23.5% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 6.8%, in 1980.
That places Iceland 106th out of 199 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 45 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 8.1% | 6.8% | 9.5% | 10 |
| 1990s | 12.0% | 9.9% | 14.3% | 10 |
| 2000s | 17.1% | 14.8% | 19.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 20.7% | 19.4% | 21.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 22.8% | 22.2% | 23.5% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Iceland
More reference data data for Iceland
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0288 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.0708 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.1854 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0001 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.1854 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0964 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.062 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.2576 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.7664 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0005 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of adults who are obese in Iceland?
- Share of adults who are obese in Iceland was 23.5% 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 adults who are obese recorded in Iceland?
- The highest recorded value was 23.5% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of adults who are obese recorded in Iceland?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.8% in 1980.
- How does Iceland rank for share of adults who are obese?
- Iceland ranks 106th out of 199 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of adults who are obese rising or falling in Iceland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 14.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Iceland 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 adults who are obese. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 45 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Obesity is defined here as a body mass index (BMI) above 30. BMI is a person's weight in kilograms divided by the square of their height in meters.