Prevalence of obesity in the adult population (18 years and older) in Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea: Prevalence of obesity in the adult population (18 years and older) was 28 % in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
28 %
Change on year
up 1.8%
World rank
69th
of 184 countries
All-time high
28 %
in 2024
All-time low
17.7 %
in 2000
Years of data
25
2000–2024

Prevalence of obesity in the adult population (18 years and older) in Papua New Guinea, 2000–2024

01020302000201220242000: 17.7 %2001: 18.1 %2002: 18.5 %2003: 18.9 %2004: 19.4 %2005: 19.8 %2006: 20.2 %2007: 20.6 %2008: 21 %2009: 21.4 %2010: 21.8 %2011: 22.2 %2012: 22.5 %2013: 22.9 %2014: 23.3 %2015: 23.8 %2016: 24.2 %2017: 24.6 %2018: 25.1 %2019: 25.5 %2020: 26 %2021: 26.5 %2022: 27 %2023: 27.5 %2024: 28 %

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.

Analysis

In 2024, prevalence of obesity in the adult population (18 years and older) in Papua New Guinea stood at 28 %. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.

That represents a change of up 1.8% on the previous year and up 20.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, prevalence of obesity in the adult population (18 years and older) in Papua New Guinea peaked at 28 % in 2024 and was at its lowest, 17.7 %, in 2000.

That places Papua New Guinea 69th out of 184 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.

Prevalence of obesity in the adult population (18 years and older) in Papua New Guinea, year by year

Annual values for Prevalence of obesity in the adult population (18 years and older) (percent) — Value in Papua New Guinea, 2000 to 2024.
Year % Change
2000 17.7 %
2001 18.1 % +2.3%
2002 18.5 % +2.2%
2003 18.9 % +2.2%
2004 19.4 % +2.6%
2005 19.8 % +2.1%
2006 20.2 % +2.0%
2007 20.6 % +2.0%
2008 21 % +1.9%
2009 21.4 % +1.9%
2010 21.8 % +1.9%
2011 22.2 % +1.8%
2012 22.5 % +1.4%
2013 22.9 % +1.8%
2014 23.3 % +1.7%
2015 23.8 % +2.1%
2016 24.2 % +1.7%
2017 24.6 % +1.7%
2018 25.1 % +2.0%
2019 25.5 % +1.6%
2020 26 % +2.0%
2021 26.5 % +1.9%
2022 27 % +1.9%
2023 27.5 % +1.9%
2024 28 % +1.8%

Papua New Guinea compared with similar countries

  • Papua New Guinea's 28 % is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 16.8 %, 1.7× the median. (41 countries reporting)
  • Papua New Guinea's 28 % is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 28 %, 1.0× the median. (25 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 19.56 % 17.7 % 21.4 % 10
2010s 23.59 % 21.8 % 25.5 % 10
2020s 27 % 26 % 28 % 5

Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea

  1. 66 Peru 29.2 % compare
  2. 67 Ecuador 28.9 % compare
  3. 68 Greenland 28.1 % compare
  4. 69 Guatemala 28 % compare
  5. 71 Ireland 27.9 % compare
  6. 72 Azerbaijan 27.6 % compare

See the full ranking of 241 places →

More agriculture & rural data for Papua New Guinea

All data for Papua New Guinea →

Frequently asked questions

What is prevalence of obesity in the adult population (18 years and older) in Papua New Guinea?
Prevalence of obesity in the adult population (18 years and older) in Papua New Guinea was 28 % in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest prevalence of obesity in the adult population (18 years and older) recorded in Papua New Guinea?
The highest recorded value was 28 % in 2024.
What is the lowest prevalence of obesity in the adult population (18 years and older) recorded in Papua New Guinea?
The lowest recorded value was 17.7 % in 2000.
How does Papua New Guinea rank for prevalence of obesity in the adult population (18 years and older)?
Papua New Guinea ranks 69th out of 184 countries with data for 2024.
Is prevalence of obesity in the adult population (18 years and older) rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
Over the last ten years it is up 20.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Papua New Guinea data come from?
The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Prevalence of obesity in the adult population (18 years and older) (percent) — Value. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Prevalence of obesity in the adult population (18 years and older) in Papua New Guinea. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 18 September 2026, from https://agriculture.statizoid.com/stat/prevalence-of-obesity-in-the-adult-population-18-years-and-older-percent-value/papua-new-guinea/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://agriculture.statizoid.com/stat/prevalence-of-obesity-in-the-adult-population-18-years-and-older-percent-value/papua-new-guinea/">Prevalence of obesity in the adult population (18 years and older) in Papua New Guinea</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Prevalence of obesity in the adult population (18 years and older) (percent) — Value
Unit
%
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
241 places, 6,023 data points, 2000–2024
Last refreshed

The Suite of Food Security Indicators presents the core set of food security indicators. Following the recommendation of experts gathered in the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) Round Table on hunger measurement, hosted at FAO headquarters in September 2011, an initial set of indicators aiming to capture various aspects of food insecurity is presented here. The choice of the indicators has been informed by expert judgement and the availability of data with sufficient coverage to enable comparisons across regions and over time. Many of these indicators are produced and published elsewhere by FAO and other international organizations. They are reported here in a single database with the aim of building a wide food security information system. More indicators will be added to this set as more data will become available. Indicators are classified along the four dimensions of food security -- availability, access, utilization and stability.