Obesity Rate In EU At 6.3% In 2025
Sumaira FH
Published September 05, 2026 | 06:45 PM
BRUSSELS, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 05th Sep, 2026) - In 2025, 16.3% of people in the EU aged 18 or over were obese, meaning they had a body mass index of 30 or higher. An additional 35.4% of the population were pre-obese, with a body mass index between 25 and 30. Overall, more than half of the EU population were overweight, either obese or pre-obese.
Data released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, showed that men were more likely to be overweight than women. The obesity rate was 17.4% for men and 15.3% for women. Additionally, 41.9% of men were pre-obese, compared with 29.3% of women.
In contrast, women were more likely to be underweight (2.9%) than men (1.0%).
The highest obesity rates were recorded in Malta, where more than a quarter of the population was obese (26.6%). The next highest rates were in Latvia (24.6%) and Finland (23.2%). The lowest rates were recorded in Italy (7.0%), Greece (12.8%) and Romania (12.9%).
Obesity rate is one of the indicators used to monitor Sustainable development goal (SDG) 2 – zero hunger and SDG 3 – good health and well-being. SDG 2 seeks to end hunger and malnutrition, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.