Share of adults who are obese in Lesotho
Lesotho: Share of adults who are obese was 20.2% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Share of adults who are obese in Lesotho, 1980–2024
Source: World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, share of adults who are obese in Lesotho stood at 20.2%. That is the highest value across all 45 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.9% on the previous year and up 36.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of adults who are obese in Lesotho peaked at 20.2% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 5.7%, in 1980.
That places Lesotho 126th 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 | 6.3% | 5.7% | 7.1% | 10 |
| 1990s | 8.3% | 7.3% | 9.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 11.3% | 9.8% | 12.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 15.1% | 13.1% | 17.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 19.1% | 18.0% | 20.2% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
- 123 Luxembourg 20.9% compare
- 124 Norway 20.7% compare
- 125 Montenegro 20.6% compare
- 127 Andorra 19.5% compare
- 128 Spain 18.9% compare
- 129 Equatorial Guinea 18.8% compare
More reference data data for Lesotho
- Temperature anomalies by month 0.6724 °C (2026)
- Spring temperature anomalies 0.6457 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 1.77 °C (2026)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.5102 °C (2025)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies -0.4131 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 221.03 2010 = 100 (2025)
- Elected parliament 1 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
- Civil liberties rating 3 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of adults who are obese in Lesotho?
- Share of adults who are obese in Lesotho was 20.2% 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 Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 20.2% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of adults who are obese recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.7% in 1980.
- How does Lesotho rank for share of adults who are obese?
- Lesotho ranks 126th out of 199 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of adults who are obese rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is up 36.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Lesotho 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.